


Moirai

by lostin_space



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, M/M, alien baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2020-05-15 06:10:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19289791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostin_space/pseuds/lostin_space
Summary: It was faint, but it sparked something deep within Michael, a familiarity that his conscious mind couldn’t comprehend but his body knew.  He raced towards it and not a single cell in his body was surprised to find a pod at the end of the tunnel.  The walkie-talkie that was strapped to his shirt went off, Alex’s voice ringing through the air and getting progressively more and more panicked when he didn’t respond.  He couldn’t respond.





	1. Chapter 1

Michael felt it.

He didn’t know exactly what it was he was feeling, but he knew it was important and his brain wasn’t giving him any choice but to follow it.  He knew it probably wasn’t a smart idea to separate from Alex and Kyle, but there was a hum inside him that lured him away.  It led him to a locked door that opened to a flight of stars that wasn’t shown on any of the maps that they’d found.

Alex had kept his word to look into Project Shepard and make sure what happened at Caulfield wasn’t happening elsewhere.  He’d only come up with one possible other location, Pitlochry Prison, but it didn’t have nearly as much information on it.  Still, he didn’t want to take any chances, and he packed up Michael and Kyle to go check it out.

Things were still confusing between them.  He’d ended things with Maria the moment Max died, but Alex had still been hurt by it.  Fixing that was slow and painful and for a while all they could discuss was Project Shepard.  Then about five weeks ago, Michael had gotten a little too fucked up and ended up exploding the airstream in a way that even Michael Bay would’ve been jealous of.  He couch hopped for a few nights, but Isobel didn’t let him sleep in and Max made too much noise with Liz.  He’d even attempted to stay with Kyle, but one morning of hearing him bustling around at 4:30 AM was enough before he resigned to sleeping in the bunker with a sleeping bag.  That is until Alex told him to just stay with him.  It was a confusing proposition at first, but Alex had a spare bedroom that was apparently underused and it’d be easier to work with them in the same place anyway.

Michael had stayed with Alex for about a month now and he’d already decided that’s what his life was about, being with Alex Manes.  They both stayed up ridiculously late if they slept at all, they liked the same movies, they understood each other’s science rambles enough to hold a coherent conversation, they picked up after themselves, they are the same food.  But it was waking up to Alex humming in the kitchen over a pan of eggs at noon clad in sweatpants and nothing more as he offered a cup of coffee that had Michael sold.  That’s what he wanted to wake up to forever.

Then, a few nights ago, when Alex had come to them with the prospect of another prison, Michael had had a stronger reaction than he’d anticipated.  He’d overdosed on fear, memories of Caulfield taking over.  Something instinctual happened in Alex‒that’s what it had to be‒and he’d held Michael close while whispering soothing words.  There were two good beds in the cabin, and yet neither of them moved from the couch for hours.  Even when Michael had calmed down and even when they’d both fallen asleep only to wake up the next morning, neither one of them made the decision to move.

So, after 8 hours wrapped up in Alexander Manes and after clearing his mind, Michael kissed him.  He’d expected to be rejected and therefore kept it short.  Sleep was still heavy in them both and that had to be what kept Alex from being Alex and telling him to stop.  Instead, they’d stared for a moment with Alex’s fingers tangled up in his hair before meeting together in a sweet kiss.

They hadn’t really discussed what that meant, but they hadn’t taken it back.  In fact, they’d only moved forward.  Within the last three days, touching and kissing and  _mindblowing_  sex had come back to their relationship.  They used the excuse of Pitlochry to not have to really talk about it because talking meant addressing their issues and they’d historically been bad at that to the point it ruined all the good stuff.  He wanted so badly to keep the good stuff.  He planned to keep the good stuff. That meant staying alive, safe, and with Alex at Pitlochry.  He couldn’t afford to break again because he found someone he couldn’t save.

Yet, whatever was calling to him made him throw all caution to the wind.

The staircase was long and dark, so much so he could barely see a damn thing.  Instinct and whatever was calling him were his only sense of direction.  Maybe he should’ve felt scared. Instead, he felt braver than he had ever before in entire life. The hum deep in his brain, in his  _bones_ , kept getting louder and stronger the more he walked.

And then there was a glow.

It was faint, but it sparked something deep within Michael, a familiarity that his conscious mind couldn’t comprehend but his body knew.  He raced towards it and not a single cell in his body was surprised to find a pod at the end of the tunnel.  The walkie-talkie that was strapped to his shirt went off, Alex’s voice ringing through the air and getting progressively more and more panicked when he didn’t respond.  He couldn’t respond.

Inside the pod, there was a baby.  A small one, curled into the fetal position and floating there for god knows how long.  Someone had put her here, put her in a place where no one could find her unless they  _knew_.  Michael didn’t know.  Yet here he was.

“Guerin, I’m giving you ten seconds to respond, if you don’t, I’m going to come get you,” Alex said, carefully skirting the part where he’d put a small tracking device in each of their walkie talkies.  It was for safety, in case someone was here.  He thought someone had him.

Michael should’ve responded.  His body seemed to scream out to respond to him, to let him know he was totally fine and it wasn’t necessary, but whatever was bringing him to this pod was in control.  It didn’t give a shit about a worrying Alex; it wanted Michael.

The fear only started whenever his own hands began glowing in a way he’d only seen Max’s or his mother’s.  He didn’t know how to do that and he surely didn’t know how he was doing it now.  But that hum assured him this was supposed to happen, subduing his fear with the overwhelming calm and desire to follow it’s lead.

No silver was needed as his glowing palms reached into the pod, grabbing the infant cautiously and pulling her out into the world.  She breathed for the first time and she whimpered and she whined and Michael stared at her as he held her out in front of him.  The baby laid across his forearm, Michael instinctively cradling her head in his hand and allowed the out-of-place feeling of overwhelming pride wash over him.

Michael had held many babies in his life and even taken care of a few.  Foster care was a bitch and there had been more than one home he’d been thrown into where he was expected to cater to the younger children that were there.  It never really bothered him, it wasn’t their fault and he could at least make sure they were being looked after while he could, but none of that pseudo-parenting made him feel like he did in that moment. He could only assume that it was due to it being a child of his own species that it felt so surreal.  He couldn’t even move.

“Guerin,” That was Kyle’s voice.  It was present, not over radio signals.  Michael didn’t look over to him.  “What’cha got there?”

Eventually, after blinking a few million times, the spell over him was broken.  Michael fell back on his ass, carefully pulling the baby into his chest and cradling her close.  He had to catch his breath before letting his eyes drift over to see Valenti standing there with nothing short of shock and confusion on his face.

“The fuck’s it look like?” Michael managed before cautiously looking back down to make sure he hadn’t hurt the little alien.  She looked fine, kicking her feet aimlessly and gripping onto the wire of walkie talkie.  Michael pried it out of her little fist, letting her take hold of his thumb instead.

“Guerin!” Alex’s voice echoed through the tunnel and Michael, who was now firmly in control of his own mind again, felt his heart claw into his throat.  He’d scared him.  So much for healing their relationship.  Alex jogged up to them, coming into view with the light of the dim pod.  His chest was heaving and he looked so fucking worried.  He spoke before Michael could apologize.  “What‒where did you get that?”

“Sorry for scaring you,” Michael said softly, his eyes shifting back down to the baby in his arms.

“Michael,” Alex said slowly, cautiously.  His footsteps crunched against the dusty concrete floor. “What is that?”

“Jesus Christ, have neither of you seen a baby before?” he shot back, slowly and carefully taking off the jacket Alex had made him wear to wrap around the little alien.

“We have.  We’re more confused on how you went missing for nearly an hour and then we find you with a child that wasn’t with you when we came,” Kyle said as if it should’ve been obvious why they were concerned.  Nearly an hour?  Had he really been gone that long?  It felt like five minutes at most.

“She called to me,” Michael said simply.  That was the only way he could describe it, the only way that made sense to him.

“Uh-huh,” Alex’s voice again made him look up.  He was closer this time, worry and fear very obvious on his face.  What was he so scared of?  There was nothing scary about a baby.

“Let me see it,” Kyle said.  Overwhelming panic encompassed Michael so quickly and so strongly that he wondered if it was even his.

“No.  Why?  What are you gonna do to her? She’s mine,” Michael insisted, holding the little alien closer to his chest.  Her tiny hand was holding tightly onto Michael’s thumb and he had no intention of prying it off.

Alex and Kyle shared a look before looking back at him.  Micahel hated when they did that.  It was like they decided they could communicate without speaking.  He hated it even more when it was about him.

“Michael, she isn’t yours,” Alex said softly.  It felt like a betrayal for some reason.  Alex didn’t get it, he didn’t  _feel_  it.  She was Michael’s, end of discussion.

“Okay, but she’s an alien and who is the only other alien here? Oh, yeah,  _me_ , so she’s mine by default,” Michael argued.  He didn’t know how to put into words the tie he felt to this little baby he just discovered.  It was strong and just clicked in his mind like this was undoubtedly his responsibility.  This was his purpose in life.  They wouldn’t get it.

They did the whole look-sharing thing again.

“Fine,” Kyle said carefully, “We can take her with us.”

“Of fucking course we’re taking her with us, was there another option?” Michael scoffed, scowling at the doctor who clearly thought he had a say in this.  Like Michael would  _leave_  her.  Absolutely not.

He’d left aliens before.  He wasn’t about to do it again.

Kyle just ignored his comment though, “I need to check her out, make sure she’s stable enough to just take straight home.”  He started taking steps towards Michael.  He very slowly stood up with a nod, hesitantly passing the baby from his arms to Kyle’s.

However, the moment she was out of Michael’s grasp, she started screaming.  Her cry was a force to be reckoned with, echoing around the tunnel and bouncing off the walls to make it even louder.  Michael felt it in his core.

“Give her back, she doesn’t like you!” Michael snapped, taking her back.  He held her little head to his shoulder, glaring at Kyle who held his hands up as a white flag.  It was almost comical how quickly her cries subdued whenever Michael held her close again.  He might’ve laughed if he wasn’t so focused on the relief he got from the tiny alien relaxing again.  “She’s mine.”

Alex moved forward, curiosity in place of fear as he held his hands out.  Michael licked his lips as he looked between his baby and Alex.  He trusted Alex.  Valenti was growing on him, but Alex was the one he’d trust more than literally anyone else in the world.  Alex was allowed all his vulnerabilities without a second thought‒if he trusted anyone to take care of the baby, it was Alex. Even if he didn’t get it.

“Okay,” Michael said softly, holding his breath as he carefully passed the baby to Alex’s arms.

Admittedly, she stayed quiet a little longer than she did with Kyle, but, after a few whimpers that made Michael’s heartache, she started crying.  Michael grabbed her again, cradling her close and shushing her.

“I don’t like when she cries,” Michael said, trying to explain so Alex would stop looking so hurt, “It feels like when Isobel or Max gets hurt.  It, it’s like it hurts me too.” Alex stared at him for a moment with nothing short of worry on his face.

“Is there a rational explanation for that?” Alex asked Kyle, not even trying to be subtle.  Michael rocked her, his eyes falling closed as he fed off the peace the baby exuded when she was in his arms.

“Uh, if I had to guess, it’s a whole psychic thing. I… I don’t know why it’s so strong?  I don’t know, I’m not an alien expert,” Kyle tried.

“I  _meant_ , why does she freak out every time someone other than Michael holds her?” Alex clarified, sounding a little more fed up.

“Oh, I’d say his body temperature. I don’t know exactly how the pod things work, but I’m sure it feels like an incubator.  Also, I’m sure the little thing’s used to his species, they’re hotter than us,” Kyle rationalized. Michael opened his eyes again.

“I don’t know, Alex is pretty hot,” Michael commented.  Alex’s lips struggled as he tried to fight the incoming smile, cocking his head to the side as he gave his signature Sweet Eyes.  Michael had no other way to describe them than that.  They were so fond they made him feel gooey, they’d always been his Sweet Eyes.

“Oh, so the baby trance breaks for you to be flirtatious?  Why am I not surprised?” Alex said and Michael smiled at him.  Maybe they could still be something.  He knew adding a baby into the mix made things a little harder, but Michael believed they could still make it.  They had to.

“Okay, look, I know we’re all distracted by the whole baby thing and flirting with your ex thing, but I’d like to remind everyone that we’re still in an abandoned prison in a secret tunnel where we found a fucking  _child_ ,” Kyle said.  He had a good point.

It was much faster getting out of Pitlochry than it was getting inside of it, yet the sun was already starting to set which meant they had to have been there for a while.  Michael’s internal clock must’ve been completely fucked once he started feeling that pull.  That was made more prevalent whenever they all climbed into Alex’s fancy truck and Micahel was suddenly hit with just how tired he actually was.  His whole body felt drained and he melted into the seat, the baby firmly against his chest.

Alex drove maybe five minutes before pulling over and forcing Kyle in the driver’s seat and climbing in the back.

“You’re going to drop her if you try to keep sitting up when you’re about to pass the hell out,” Alex said and he didn’t give Michael much of a choice but to lay his head in his lap.  Not that he minded.  Michael made sure the little alien stayed in his arm, laying all cuddled up between the seats of the car and Michael’s chest and still wrapped in the jacket.

*

“Oh my god, I can’t get over how cute she is,” Isobel gushed as she lifted the baby from the couch.  Michael watched her, struggling to keep his hands to himself and not make sure she didn’t drop her.  He knew she wouldn’t, but that didn’t help the anxiety in his chest.

Alex sat beside him and draped his arm over the back of the couch behind him‒that helped.

“Okay, so, her cells look the same as yours, for the most part, I’d say she’s definitely the same species.  The only difference is your power source is pretty prevalent in your DNA, but hers... it’s virtually glowing inside of her.  Has she shown any signs of any powers?” Liz asked as she walked in from the kitchen.  In the 30 minutes since she’d pulled up at the cabin with Max, she’d turned the kitchen into a makeshift lab.

“Other than the whole luring Michael thing, no,” Alex answered.

Liz nodded, “So, she’s psychic?”

“We all are on some level, though,” Max added.

“Okay, well, when did you guys come into your main powers?”

“I’ve had ‘em for as long as I can remember,” Michael said, letting himself lean into Alex’s side just a little. Isobel nodded in agreement.

“Mine was a bit later, like when I was eleven, but the psychic thing was already there,” Max said.  Liz nodded thoughtfully, mumbling under her breath as he went back into the kitchen.

“Oh, look at this smile!” Isobel cooed, turning the little alien slightly to show Micahel her smile.  It was easily the most contagious thing in the world.

Isobel had been a little later than Max and Liz, but she was carting a few baby essentials including bottles, formula, onesies, and diapers.  Micahel was especially thankful for the diapers since his jacket was now completely ruined.  However, with some help from Kyle, they had him fed, bathed, and dressed, putting both she and Micahel at ease.  It also helped that this happened after Liz had stuck her in the arm with a needle.

“Oh, she’s so soft and lovable! Yes, you are! Yes, you are!” Isobel said, earning happy heavy breathing and gurgling from the baby.  A few more baby-talked sentences later, she stood to give her back to Michael.  He clearly had it written all over his face how much he wanted to hold her again.  It really felt like his baby.

“Hi, baby,” Michael said, trying his hand at baby talk as he brought her back against his chest. Alex snorted.

“She needs a name,” Isobel said, leaning forward.  Michael nodded slowly, pursing his lips in thought as he looked down at the baby in his arms.

Before he could even suggest anything, Kyle walked back in the room with Max and they stood in the middle of the room like they had something important to say. Michael doubted they did.  He got his confirmation‒the baby was healthy. That’s all he needed to know.

“So, I figure we can all pitch in watching her until I can get in touch with a social worker.  She’s young enough that she’ll probably get adopted fast, but‒”

“What are you talking about?” Michael said, sitting up straight as he stared at Kyle in frustrated confusion.  The words ‘social worker’ sent a familiar chill down his spine that he’d thought he’d gotten over at least a decade prior. No way that was an option when it came to his baby.

“Micahel, we can’t keep her, she’s not ours to keep,” Max said, that condescending tone dripping from his voice and provoking Michael to have to keep way too much focus in staying calm.  “We have to give her to someone who knows how to take care of her.”

“I’m sorry, who said this was your decision to make?” Michael snapped.  His was nearly vibrating with anger.  How dare they think they could just take her away.  What the fuck gave them the right?

“Michael‒”

“Don’t ‘Michael’ me! She’s mine! She isn’t going anywhere!”

“You don’t know the first thing about taking care of a baby.”

“So?  Does anyone? I’ll learn,” Michael said, scoffing as he shook his head.  The baby in his arms clearly seemed to feed off his mood, gradually getting more and more fussy as Michael got more and more pissed.  “I’m not having this conversation with you guys, she’s not going anywhere. I don’t understand why you would  _want_  her too.  I know you guys think you had it great and all, and I’m sure you think you did, but you were still confused and scared of yourselves and scared of other people.  And we were older, we knew that we came from pods!  She’s too little, she won’t know anything.  She’ll just know that she can do things that she shouldn’t, she’ll be terrified and alone.  Why should I put her through that, especially when she has someone who  _wants_  her?  Not only someone who wants her but understands her power and can provide an environment where she can explore that power freely without being scared and trying to hide it.  I can give her what we didn’t have!  I don’t care if you don’t want to, Max, but  _I do_.  I’m not letting you guys try to convince me that she’ll be better off with someone who doesn’t understand her and never will.”

The room was quiet as they stared at him.  Though, instead of understanding like it should’ve been, it was just pity.  It was as though they weren’t even aware that this baby was going to grow and become like them, become a powerful alien.  Yeah, there was a chance she could end up living fine and happy, but there was a bigger chance that she wouldn’t.  And at least they had each other‒this baby wouldn’t have anyone.  Michael knew what that felt like and, bond or not, he refused to let her go through that.  

“Fuck you guys, I’ll figure it out on my own, no need to stress yourselves out,” Michael spat, standing to his feet and heading down the hall to Alex’s room.  He couldn’t look at them, not when they all were acting like he was being irrational.  He didn’t have it in him to comprehend how wanting to take care of someone who needed it was irrational.

The only thing that calmed him down was the fact that Alex followed him.

“They’ve completely lost it, why would I give her up? She needs me, she needs someone who‒” Michael had to cut himself off when he turned to see Alex’s face didn’t look that much different from the rest of them.  Pity and concern.  He took a step back.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Alex asked, reaching out to him.  Micahel stepped away again.  He didn’t even have Alex on his side.  Alex, who grew up feeling unwanted, unloved, and undeniably  _different_  in a way he couldn’t understand for years, wanted to subject the same fate onto an infant who had someone who wanted her.  What the fuck was going on?  “You don’t even have a place of your own, how can you take care of a baby?”

It was a low blow, they both knew it.  Well, all three of them knew it.  It knocked the air from Micahel’s lung and, within seconds, the baby was crying.  Michael stared at him, a million different things going through his mind as a way to retaliate but only one stood out and repeated itself.   _I have enough saved for a new place, I just wanted to be with you, you asshole._

Still, regardless of how much he wanted to throw it in his face, he couldn’t.  So Micahel gave a tight, sarcastic smile and leaned closer.

“Don’t worry, Alex, we’ll be out of your life in a few days,” Michael said, pushing past him and heading towards the guest bedroom.  It hurt him and he hoped it hurt Alex, even if just a little bit.  If anyone understood why he didn’t want to give him up, it should’ve been Alex.  But then again, he had spent over a decade thinking that Alex was an exception to many things.

He rarely ever was.

Michael ignored the shakiness in his hands as he shushed the baby in his arms, swallowing back any tears that threatened.  He felt stupid for being emotional, he should’ve expected this.  Alex never stayed when things got hard and the rest of them thought nothing of him. Why would anyone around him think he was capable of raising a baby?  They all thought he was stupid, a lowlife, a good-for-nothing street rat who would never get anywhere and would never care for anyone but himself.  But they were wrong and he cared a lot about a lot of people to the point he’d do anything for them and this baby had been added to the list.  Why couldn’t they see that?

Michael sniffled louder than he wanted, wiping away a stray tear and pretending it wasn’t over losing Alex all over again.

“It’s okay, baby, we’ll figure it out, it’s just you and me,” Michael said, “That’s all we need.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kyle's the smart one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took way longer than anticipated and it's relatively short, but hope you enjoy!

For the next few days, Alex feels like he’s gone back to living alone. **  
**

The only tell that he wasn’t alone was the occasional crying and the bottles drying on the counter whenever he got home from work.  It was more painful than he anticipated.  He missed Michael and he hadn’t even left yet.

Alex had tried to apologize and explained that’s not what he meant, that he just wanted to make sure he was actually thinking this through.  He understood that Micahel was under the spell of that baby.  He didn’t see the way he looked when they found him or the way he passed out the minute the baby did.  It was like she spent every waking moment controlling him and once she got tired, he was let go and left too drained from it to stay awake.

The part that had concerned Alex the most was how, during the ride back, Micahel had somehow swerved the truck and saved it from getting destroyed in his sleep.  It had scared the shit out of Alex and Kyle both, but it was made worse when Alex looked down to see the baby staring right back up at him with big brown eyes.  For a moment, Alex had considered that she had done it somehow.  However, Michael had moved shit in his sleep during a nightmare once before.  Maybe that’s what it was.

He hoped that’s what it was.

It worried Alex that Micahel had seemed to lose all sense of rationality.  Alex loved him and had been hopeful things between them were finally healing‒he just didn’t anticipate that to be ruined by him being irrationally attached to an alien baby. But then maybe it was Alex’s own fault that he thought Michael could ever be a rational man when it came to his species.

“He still ignoring everyone?” Kyle asked over a cup of coffee and the files they’d found at Pitlochry.  It wasn’t too much, but it had a list of numbers and capabilities. They were different from the ones he’d found at Caulfield, so he had to assume there used to be aliens there as well. He was too nervous to let himself think about what happened to them.

“Yeah,” Alex sighed, resting his head in his hand, “I don’t even think he’s going to work. I know he feels like taking care of this baby is important, but he can’t just lock himself away like he’s doing. I don’t know what to do about it.”

Kyle folded his lips in, raising his eyebrows as he nodded and avoided eye contact.  It was that same look Maria and Liz both gave him whenever he originally told them about Michael staying with him and insisted they were still just friends. It was the whole ‘you’re oblivious but I won’t say anything,’ face. He hated that face.

“What?” Alex asked. Kyle shook his head. “No, seriously, tell me. If you know what I should do, tell me because I’m lost.”

“Well, I mean, I thought you guys were back together,” Kyle started even though it was aimless. He was expectant, waiting for Alex to confirm or deny.

“No,” Alex scoffed, but, after a pause, he added, “Well, kinda. We’d been hooking up for a couple days and I thought… But that was over the minute I asked if he was sure about keeping the baby.”

“Okay.”

“Kyle, if you have something to say, say it,” Alex snapped, “Why are you even beating around the bush in the first place? You’ve never been scared to tell me shit before.”

Kyle sighed, leaning forward on the table. “This involves a living thing. I don’t want to tell you what to do in case it fucks over that baby.” Alex furrowed his eyebrows.

“What?” Kyle rolled his eyes in the most dramatic way possible.

“Look, Guerin needs help. I understand that everyone’s hesitant about keeping an alien baby, but if he’s that deadset on keeping her, then he  _needs_  help. All you letting him isolate himself is only going to make things worse,” Kyle said as if he was some expert in the subject.

“So what am I supposed to do? Just go to him and say I’ll play house with him?” Alex asked. However, saying it out loud made him realize maybe that actually wasn’t a bad idea. He still wanted Michael, baby or not. It would just make things a little more confusing.

“No, I’m not saying that. But I do think you should go up to him and say you want to help him. You don’t have to play daddy, but you can play babysitter so Guerin can sleep or shower, anything. Isobel and Max need to do the same. I know Max and Isobel wanted to give the baby up, but… I do really get where Guerin was coming from and I do think it was in the best interest to keep her. I mean, he found that baby deep in that prison, we have no idea how powerful she is and we have no idea what she’s capable of. She needs to be around people who will help her or else it could put them all in danger of being found out,” Kyle said, sounding much more like Dr. Valenti than Alex was prepared for. It was a quick way to make Alex feel like an asshole.

He hadn’t even considered that part of things. He’d heard Michael say he wanted to give her a safe environment to grow up in and explore her abilities in, but he hadn’t pointed out how dangerous it might be to let someone else raise her for them. They had no idea what her powers might be, but the three older aliens got relatively lucky. Max’s was easy to disguise, Isobel’s was invisible, and Michael had impeccable control. She was much younger than they had been and she might be much less lucky.

Which means they could all be in trouble.

“Okay, maybe, but, but you  _saw_  what she did to him. It’s like she’s controlling him,” Alex leaned forward, his eyebrows pulling together. As much of a point as Kyle had, it still didn’t cover every issue that came with this baby.

“Maybe. Or maybe he’s finally found someone like him he can save. He watched all of his people explode, Alex, this is a second chance. An attachment is probably natural,” Kyle explained and Alex narrowed his eyes.

“You felt the car move when he was asleep.”

“Maybe she’s more powerful than we realize and she was protecting him.”

Alex leaned back in the chair, eyeing Kyle up and down. Him acting like Dr. Valenti was one thing, but unabashedly siding with Michael Guerin was another thing. For a moment, Alex considered that the baby might be controlling him as well.  But that would be insane.

“Why are you defending him in all of this?”

“Because as annoying as he can be, the guy’s gotta point.”

Alex sighed, “So, what, I should just go to him and say I want to help?” Kyle smiled wildly as he snorted a laugh.

“You say that like offering help to the guy you love is a chore.”

Alex hated when Kyle was right.

-

“Michael?”

After way too many hours of working himself up, he’d come home once again to find the place as if he lived alone. He was getting really fucking tired of that. That’s how his house looked growing up.  Everything was immaculate and orderly, no part of it looking lived in. His dad didn’t like it.  Alex  _wanted_  to have a place that looked lived in and Michael had been providing that sense of  _home_.

Had been.

Alex had composed a big speech with the assistance of Kyle that he wanted to help. He didn’t need any promises of a relationship or promises of anything, just let him help. He planned to apologize for making him feel like he had to do this on his own when he absolutely didn’t, especially when they lived together.  He eventually planned to ask to be together and ask for him not to look for another place, but that was for another conversation on another day.

Yet, when Michael opened the door with that baby pressed to his chest, all that flew out the window. He looked rough. Dark circles rimmed his eyes, spit up was stained on his shirt‒the same one he’d been wearing the last time he saw him‒and he was unnaturally pale as if he hadn’t eaten in a couple days. Yeah, fuck a speech.

“Give me the baby, you go eat, take a shower, and sleep,” Alex said firmly, his words a demand rather than a suggestion, “Oh, and tomorrow you’re going to work. I’m off, I’ll watch her.”

Michael rightfully looked suspicious, eyeing Alex up and down. His walls so sternly up. It hurt. Alex had just gotten those to come down and he’d said one stupid thing and they were all back up again. It gave him the extra push he needed to make sure Michael knew he was in this with him.

“Why?”

“Because you need help and you live with me and so I’m helping,” Alex paused for a moment, “And because you’re my family, so she’s my family, end of. I’m sorry I made you think otherwise.” Might as well use something from his speech.

That seemed to convince Michael to accept the help. Well, either that or the sheer exhaustion he was dealing with.

“She just ate, so she’ll be good for about four hours.”

“Okay, I’ll cook while you bathe. You want anything special?”

Michael licked his lips as he gave Alex a not-so-subtle once over. “No.”

Michael very cautiously handed over the baby. It was annoyingly the most they’d touched in days. As expected, the baby burst into tears as soon as she was transferred onto Alex’s chest. Michael’s eyebrows pulled together, his hands hovering somewhere between them as if debating if he should take her back.

“I can handle it, Guerin. Go take a shower,” Alex assured, giving him a soft smile and shooing him away. He started making his way down the hall.

“Alex,” Michael called, “Thank you.”

“No problem.”

The baby seemed to cry louder and louder the farther she got from Michael which just further made Alex believe their attachment was unhealthy. Or, rather, otherworldly. He didn’t know which one he preferred.

Alex bounced her on his hip as he peered helplessly into his empty refrigerator, shushing her as best he could. Eventually, he realized that he wasn’t going to get anywhere and he ordered pizza from the only place that would deliver out to the cabin. Even then, they only delivered because it was Alex and the owner was one of those men who made a point to thank him for his service every time he saw him. Because of that, they didn’t mention the screaming baby in the background when he called.

“You like heat, don’t you?” Alex said after about 10 minutes of hearing her cry which was 10 minutes too long. “Michael’s gonna be back eventually, but you’re really gonna have to get used to me.”

He grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch, swaddling her up the best he could to add some extra heat. He made a mental note to add little hats and socks to his shopping list.  It would make everyone’s life easier.  You know, once he convinced the rest of the fucking group to chip in.

The swaddling, cradling, and a little bit of singing seemed to be what it took to quiet her down. It was annoying as hell, but he’d learned he would put up with a lot if it meant helping Michael. Once she was asleep, Alex placed her on the couch and made a wall of pillows around her, still humming in hopes that would keep her asleep even when he heard knocking on the door.

Michael came strolling out just as Alex paid for the pizza, his hair wet and matted to his forehead. It was hard not to watch him, water droplets zooming down his jaw as he leaned over the couch and placed his hand in front of her face to check she was still breathing. If there was one thing Alex  _could_  say was that seeing Michael Guerin being all soft and caring with a baby was poking and prodding at some part of him that wanted a family of his own. It made it a little easier to accept whatever this baby was doing to him.

“C’mon, you can still see her from the table,” Alex urged, placing the pizza down. Michael reluctantly obeyed, sitting down on the opposite side from Alex.  It was oddly formal and it was clear that even though Michael was accepting help, it hadn’t actually made anything better between them.

“Thanks for buying food. And for watching her. How’d you get her down?”

“Singing to her worked better than anything else.”

“At least she’s got good taste,” Michael said, reaching into the box to grab a slice. Alex licked his lips, watching him eat for a moment as he placed his words together in his head. It was a lot easier to be demanding or to play pretend with Kyle.

This was Michael. Michael had a tendency to misinterpret what he was saying. He had to be extremely, overly blunt. Which… just wasn’t fair.

“Can we talk? Like, for real. Everything out in the open,” Alex said, his voice coming out a lot less stern than it had been. Michael paused, pizza hanging out of his mouth and looking painfully adorable despite the fact he was so very clearly exhausted.

“Okay.”

“So, first things first, I meant what I said. You’re my family, so she’s my family. I take care of family,” Alex explained, “I… I shouldn’t have even waited this long to talk to you about this, but I didn’t know how to approach you and you didn’t see yourself when you found that baby‒”

“Felicity.”

“Huh?”

“Felicity, I named her Felicity. Or, that’s what she seemed to like, so we’re rolling with it.” Michael said. Alex’s lips twitched, but he managed to get back on track.

“When you found  _Felicity_. It-it was scary and it made me nervous to be okay with you keeping her. It was too easy to think she had control over you, but Kyle sort of pointed out that you… Well, you’ve been through a lot, and this might be good for you. That and that keeping her probably is in our best interest anyway. Basically, I’m sorry and I want to help, genuinely. I love you and I want to help you, whatever you need.”

“So Kyle wants to raise a baby with me?”

Alex had to blink a couple times before asking, “I’m sorry, is that actually what you just heard me say?”

“No.” Michael cracked a smile. “So, what? Like, what exactly do you want to happen?”

Alex took another heavy breath.  _Thank you, therapy._

“I just want you to stay here. I want to go back to how we were before you found her, just… add her to the equation. I liked where we were headed, I… still… Guerin,  _what the fuck_?”

There, just casually midair, sat little baby Felicity, still all swaddled up and asleep even though she was floating. Alex was admittedly panicking and he really expected Michael to be panicking, except he wasn’t.

“Yeah, she does that,” he said, glancing up to her with a proud little smile. He lifted his hand, leading her back onto the couch.

“What do you mean  _she does that_?”

“She floats when she’s happy. Or, like, when she wants something she’ll levitate things around her or things she wants. I guess I probably did too because I think we’re both telekinetics,” he said simply as if that  _wasn’t_  a big deal.

Alex, Kyle, and Michael had all poured over the records from Caulfield for months, trying to pull any useful information that would help figure out, well, anything. If there were more of them, how their powers worked, why they came here, how so many of them got caught when they were so powerful. It was an endless stream of questions and it was so frustrating when basically none of them were answered.

They didn’t speak, or at least not English. Not the way the people holding them captive wanted.  The main source of information that wasn’t dissection was a list of numbers in lieu of names paired with abilities.  The list was long and varied, but most of them were replicated at least a few times. There were tons of psychics, even a few human defibrillators like Max. Most had multiple powers, but they were kind enough to list their main abilities.

Not a damn one of them was telekinetic.

That was all Michael Guerin. Until now.

“Michael, we have yet to find a record of someone born with your ability,” Alex said, so many emotions coursing through his system that he could barely do anything with any of them. There was no way in hell he was going to sleep tonight. He had a fuck ton of research to do. “If she’s like you, then…”

Alex could see the moment it clicked in Michael’s head. The pizza dropped out of his mouth and he slumped back into the chair. The connection made sense, the obsession made sense, the psychic pull made sense,  _everything_  could be fucking explained by this one little tidbit of information that no one had bothered to consider. Why had they been so stupid?

“She could actually be mine.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> getting everything out in the open

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not entirely satisfied with how this turned out, but it's a weird filler chapter, so I can't be too picky. sorry it took me a million years, hope you like it xx

“Good news, you are not the father.”  **  
**

Michael rolled his eyes as Liz walked out of the cabin’s kitchen. He had tried to explain a few times that he didn’t think he was her dad, but he thought they might be related. Why else would they have the same power? She could be his sister or something, anything. They just all thought it was oh so funny that he wanted a DNA test.

“You’re not related at all, not that I can tell, not outside being the same species,” Liz said. Michael slumped against Alex who already had his arm draped over his shoulders. His eyes drifted over to Felicity who was laying on the couch beside him, sound asleep. His heart ached a little bit that she wasn’t his family. He just had to keep reminding himself that Alex was his family without sharing blood. She could be his family regardless of that too.

“Okay,” Michael nodded. Alex squeezed his arm and gave him a nice little smile. Having Alex on his side made things easier even if he still wasn’t completely convinced that it was a permanent situation. They were both more than a little wishy-washy. Though, this time felt a little more certain.

“But,” Liz began, eyeing Michael wearily, “She is related to Max and Isobel. As far as I can tell, she’s probably a cousin. And they’re genetically brother and sister.”

The world seemed to slow at the bullshit revelation if one could even call it that. His entire life, he’d been alone. Why should now be any different?

He could feel everyone in the room staring at him, each and every one of them waiting for his reaction. But he didn’t know what the proper way to react was. He felt angry, but he didn’t think he really had a right to be angry. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. It was just the way the world worked. Nothing was made for Michael, he had to work for things.

It wasn’t until he looked up and saw that Isobel and Max had shifted their gaze onto the baby that he really felt justified in being pissed off. He was the one who found her and had been caring for her, they couldn’t just suddenly look like that. Maybe Alex and Kyle had a point that he needed help, but that’s it. Help. There was no way in hell they were going to look like they wanted her when they had made it very clear that they wanted to give her away only a week prior.

“She’s still mine,” Michael said firmly, glaring at his siblings when they looked up with pity in their eyes. It was a similar look that everyone gave him when they were about to take something away. “You can’t have her, you can’t take her from me.”

“Michael, we aren’t‒”

“No, you’re looking at me like you’re about to tell me you want her now, and I’m saying no. She’s mine,” Michael said definitively.

“Michael, she is yours,” Max clarified. Michael felt Alex push his hair back, soothing him with a kiss to the forehead.

“She’s yours,” Alex assured him.

Michael wasn’t a stranger to anxiety attacks. For the first few years of his memory, he hadn’t had a name for it. All he knew was the slow build up of paranoia and the way his stomach would tighten until he eventually felt like he was going to explode with all of it. And most of the time as a kid, he did explode. His powers would take over and he’d throw furniture and people.

He’d gotten better with age, handled it better and was able to control his powers. He was usually able to subdue his panicky feelings with breathing and time and going out into the desert to be alone. The guitar proved to be a good distraction as well. Alex was the best distraction of them all.

However, at this moment, as he found himself eating dinner with a bunch of people who saw him as something to be pitied and could all easily take away Felicity, he found it hard to focus on any distraction. Even when Alex reached for his hand beneath the table, nothing helped. He guessed his stress the last week and the fact that he had barely been sleeping didn’t help. Nor did the fact that he had at least 5 assholes to deal with at Sanders and he’d only been back a day.

“Excuse me,” Michael said, pushing out of the chair.

He barely made it into the bathroom before it really settled in that he couldn’t breathe. Tears burned at his eyes and his chest ached. Alex followed shortly behind him, closing the door and grabbing his face.

“Guerin,” Alex said softly, letting him hyperventilate and grab desperately at his wrists. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“I can’t breath.”

“It’s gonna be okay.”

“I’m gonna lose control.”

“Hey, no,” Alex said, resting their foreheads together, “Try to breathe with me. In… out… in… out…”

“It’s not fair, Alex. They get everything. The foster family and the upbringing and the stable jobs, everything. Then there’s this one thing that’s mine, the thing that connects me to something I will never have, and it isn’t even mine! It’s theirs! Everything is always theirs! It’s not fair!” Michael vented, collapsing into Alex’s grasp. Alex slowly led them to the floor.  

“Hey, no, it isn’t,” Alex promised, cradling him close, “You have a lot of things that’s yours. Felicity is yours.”

“She isn’t, not really. She’s theirs, she’s always gonna be theirs. And they’re each other’s. I’m… something different,” Michael said, his voice cracking as he sniffled.

“Fine, I’m yours. And nothing is going to take me away from you, I promise,” Alex whispered, combing his fingers through his hair.

Michael sniffled and closed his eyes, slumping against Alex’s chest. He aligned his breathing with the way Alex combed through his hair, counting each inhale and exhale. Alex was his. Alex was his. Alex was his. He promised.

“When I was in Iraq, my superior came to me about joining a special task force,” Alex whispered, “He said I was talented and that they could use me and, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I could have something. Something that was mine, that I could do and be good at and show people I was worthy.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, and it was good for a while. Three years, actually. I barely came home which you know, but… I was  _good_  at it. I really liked being good at something,” Alex whispered, kissing the top of his head. Michael understood. He liked taking care of Felicity for a similar reason. He was good at it, it felt like she loved him because he cared for her. “But… then something bad happened. I couldn’t save the rest of my task force. And It was really bad. I… I was the only one that made it out.” Oh. Michael didn’t really get that. He snuggled a little closer. “And it took so, so long for me to realize that it wasn’t my fault. That not everything I touched turned to shit. Sometimes I still feel like it was, no matter how much therapy I get.”

“Are you trying to make me feel bad for you instead of focusing on myself?” Michael asked, managing a smile when Alex let out a soft little laugh.

“Not my goal, but I won’t turn down you being distracted,” he hummed, “No, but I’m just trying to say that you can’t take all these things to heart. Felicity is yours and while she might share blood with them, that doesn’t change the fact that you’re the one who found her and who is taking care of her. It’s going to be okay, even if it takes you a moment to realize it.”

“I just feel like your situation was a whole lot worse.” Alex snorted and pulled him in close, running his fingers up and down his arm. Michael hoped that Alex was serious in saying he wasn’t going anywhere. He didn’t want to lose this again, he didn’t think he’d survive it.

“Don’t think of it like that. You’re right. You’ve spent years never getting anything good for yourself. You do deserve something,” he hummed, pressing a sweet kiss to his forehead.

They laid there for a moment until Michael felt completely calm, focusing on the buttons on Alex’s shirt. He wondered if there was an effective way to get everyone to leave so he could resign to a life of laying on the floor with Alex.

Maybe just a life with Alex.

-

Alex figured letting Michael go to bed was better than trying to bring him back to face everyone when he clearly still wasn’t feeling well. His self-worth was low and his ability to deal with people was lower. He needed a nap.

“Is he okay?” Isobel asked, standing to her feet the moment she spotted Alex. He nodded curtly, his eyes almost immediately scanning the room for Felicity and finding her squirming in Max’s arms while Liz attempted to play with her.

“He’ll be fine, he’s just a little upset,” Alex said, watching as Felicity craned her body back at the sound of his voice. She whined, reaching for him and Alex would be lying if he said it didn’t make his heart soar.

“Why is he so upset? It’s not like we have any control over who we are and aren’t related to,” Max scoffed, trying to keep hold of Felicity even as she whined louder and contorted herself more and more to reach for Alex.

“He knows that,” Alex said, going over to take Felicity from him. Turns out, spending 24 hours with someone really starts making them like you. “I think it’s because he has a bond with her closer to how you two are and he was really thinking he had something of his own for once.” Felicity curled against his chest, her thumb in her mouth as she used her other hand to pat against his chest.

“I guess,” Max grumbled. Alex was beginning to second guess the decision to revive him.

“Look, I know that he’s the one who wanted to keep her, but I think we should help out when it comes to taking care of her,” Alex started, not-so-subtly looking over to Kyle for reassurance. He gave a thumbs up. “I’m not asking for you to take on all the parenting responsibilities, but babysitting every now and then. Michael isn’t exactly flushed with cash, so he can’t really afford daycare. Besides, I don’t really trust her with anyone who doesn’t know the whole alien business.”

“Are you sure he wants our help?” Isobel asked. He was thankful she was actually taking this seriously, specifically because she’d be the most help. Kyle, Liz, and Max all had pretty demanding jobs. Isobel was the one with the flexible job who could feasibly watch her when no one else could.

“Honestly? No. But being a single parent is difficult enough. Trying to be one without any preparation time and the baby being a telekinetic alien makes it that much harder. It’s been a week and he’s drained and has already used all his free days with Sanders,” Alex said, walking across the room to grab a candle that had casually began to levitate. Felicity smiled brightly in his grasp.

“Alex is right,” Kyle chimed in as if this wasn’t his idea, “Michael’s our friend and he needs help and he’s never going to ask for it, so we’re going to have to force it.” Alex smiled thankfully.

“Oh my god, did you just call Michael your friend?” Liz said, eyes wide with amusement. Most of the room’s attention turned to Kyle, teasing him for being a good person and befriending Michael. Isobel took this time to grab his arm and pull him into the hallway.

“What’s going on between you two?” Isobel asked, her voice hushed. Alex sighed, shifting Felicity into his other arm.

“I don’t really know yet.”

“Okay, well he’s living with you and you’re basically raising a baby together and that would all be great if I didn’t  _know_  your track record.” Her eyes were as intense as ever, zeroing in on him in her silent threats. That’s about right.

“Look, we haven’t really had a chance to fully talk about things, but I have no intention to end it between us again and I don’t think he does either,” Alex promised. Isobel pursed her lips, looking between Alex and Felicity. “I love him. Him suddenly deciding to become a father doesn’t change that. Sure, it complicates things, but… I don’t know, I realized that I can’t keep letting shit scare me out of what I want. I want Micahel, I have since I was seventeen. I’m done being scared of it.”

“And you’re really willing to take on an alien baby for him?” Isobel wondered.

Alex looked down to Felicity, watching fondly as she played with the buttons on his shirt just as Michael had. Blood relation or not, it wasn’t hard to acknowledge that she was family. And she needed him. No one had to capability to protect her and her secret like he did, nor did anyone have the proper access to take care of her like Michael did. It just so happened that they loved each other. He could personally see to it that she had a good life, better than the one he had growing up.

It was really starting to make sense why Michael thought he’d get it better than anyone else.

“Yeah,” Alex agreed, looking back to Isobel with a newfound determination, “I am.”

Isobel took a deep breath and a smile pulled at her lips. “Great. Then I guess I’m ready to become an aunt.”

It took longer than he wanted to clear out the cabin. They had created a makeshift plan for the next two weeks and who would watch Felicity on the days that both Alex and Michael had to work. It seemed like everyone was on board, even if they all had shifts alone with her except for Max. He still looked vaguely scared of her and nearly lost his shit when she levitated off the couch.

Still, Alex finally got a basically empty house and decided he would save the dishes for later. He brought Felicity to the guest bedroom only to find it empty which made his heart beat a little faster. He tried to ignore it as he laid her down in the bed, creating a wall of pillows around her and brainstorming for a way to keep the nightly levitations to a minimum. The door was left open as he moved across the hall to his own bedroom, finding Michael sound asleep beneath the covers.

A stupidly large smile found Alex’s face and it never left as he changed into his night clothes and took off his prosthetic. It had been way too many nights spent with a lonely bed. He climbed in on his side, keeping his distance as he stared. He was so tired of a life without Michael. He hoped this was the beginning to something better.

As the bed shifted, so did Michael.

“Are they gone?” he murmured, his face scrunching up as he pulled the blanket up to his nose. Alex’s heart swelled.

“Yeah, Guerin, they’re gone. Also, we created a babysitting schedule so you can both get some sleep and go to work. And tomorrow we’re gonna start building a net so she can’t, like, float away when we’re sleeping,” Alex said. Michael stretched his legs out, slightly kicked Alex’s calf.

“Can’t wait,” he breathed, rolling onto his stomach. They fell silent for a moment until Michael’s curly head popped up. “So, like, can we kiss again or are we not there yet?”

“Guerin,” Alex cooed, laughing fondly as he scooted closer. He draped his arms over the back of his shoulders and moved in for a kiss. It was lazy and they were tired so it didn’t last much more than a regular goodnight kiss, but it was good and it was  _theirs_. No one else’s. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Yes, the beginning of something much better.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael can't shake a feeling and enlists an assistant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY GUESS WHO FINALLY UPDATED 
> 
> Now that rnmweek is over, I hope I'll get back on my regular bullshit. Hope you guys like it!

Michael woke, startled and out of breath for the umpteenth time since they discovered Felicity.

He looked over to see Alex sound asleep and cuddled up with a pillow in his arms and another between his knees. Michael’s head was still fuzzy with his dream and he couldn’t offer more than a hand in Alex’s hair before turning his gaze to the fancy baby monitor that Isobel insisted on getting them. It had a camera and it showed Felicity asleep inside the mosquito net-esque thing they’d constructed around the bed to make sure she didn’t take herself anywhere or hurt herself. She seemed fine tonight. So did Alex. So why did he feel like he was on fire?

The dreams had originally started the first night of having her and they were nothing more than hazy images that left him confused and sweaty. Over time, though, they got clearer and clearer. Now, four weeks later, he was getting vivid images of shadows calling his name, luring him to the underground tunnels of Pitlochry. He knew logically he should stay away, but he couldn’t fight away the feeling that he needed to go back.

A few days prior, he’d subtly asked Alex if he thought they may have left something back at Pitlochry. He’d said no, that he’d grabbed everything they saw and that there was no reason to return, but it still didn’t shake the feeling. Even if he found nothing, he needed to go back there whether Alex wanted him to or not.

“Hi.” Alex’s groggy voice tore his eyes from the baby monitor. His face scrunched up through a yawn, his hand reaching out to stroke Michael’s arm lazily. It managed to coax a smile out of him.

“Why are you awake? Your alarm goes off in an hour,” Michael said, forcing himself to lay down. Alex replaced his pillow with Michael’s body.

“Then why are you awake?” Alex whispered. His voice was always much higher when he was waking up or almost asleep. It was a sweet little tenor that typically had Michael reeling. This morning, however, he was a bit preoccupied with trying to figure out how to get back to Pitlochry without him finding out.

“I don’t know. Thought I heard Fiz,” he murmured, finding the lie believable enough. Alex thought so too.

“Did you want me to bring those papers to Kyle?” he asked as he snuggled a bit close. They were almost done completely registering Felicity’s existence, Alex’s computer skills and ties to the military helping out on doing things in a slightly illegal way. All they needed now was for Kyle to sign off, saying he did indeed see the mother who had abandoned her at the hospital. Then she would be all Michael’s for real.

He knew Alex didn’t mean to give him an idea on how to go behind his back, but he did. Michael couldn’t go back there by himself. There was a chance that his trance-like state had to do with the pod as well as Felicity and he didn’t want to risk getting stuck where no one could find him because he got mentally sucked into nothingness. But Kyle could be of assistance.

“Nah, I’ll do it, gotta talk to him about something anyway,” Michael whispered. Alex shifted, pressing a soft kiss to his chest.

“About what?” he asked softly. Michael didn’t answer, letting Alex’s palm glide over his body before resting at his hip. “Just wondering why you’re willingly going to see Kyle.” Alex tacked on, a small smile on his lips as he continued to kiss up his chest.

“Can’t say,” Michael said, trying to give a smile. He’d just have to come up with something he could plan for Alex that would require Valenti’s help. Maybe a birthday party.

“Alright, be cryptic,” he said, moving to catch Michael’s lips in a sweet little kiss. Michael pulled him closer. What better way to get over that mindfuck of a dream than a little bit of Alex in the morning.

Their lazy morning sex was kept short. Alex’s alarm started blaring just after mutual lazy handjobs, their foreheads meeting in the middle to gather their breathing before they reluctantly climbed out of bed. It was one of those days that Michael really could’ve slept in since he didn’t have to be at work until noon, but he didn’t see the point in it when Alex had to get up.

Alex went to take a shower and Michael stepped under the water for a few seconds to wash off, leaving him with the promise of washing the sheets since they hadn’t been careful in not getting shit everywhere.

Michael fell into their normal morning routine with a little bit of lightness now that he had an idea on how to try and make the dreams stop. He made coffee with Felicity swinging herself in the doorway, he kissed Alex goodbye while handing him the lunch he’d packed, and he sat on the back porch while feeding Felicity and drinking his coffee. It was a good routine. A comforting routine.

One that would be better if he wasn’t so bitter from the way his nights always went.

He didn’t waste much time after he finished his coffee. He got Felicity dressed, threw the sheets in the dryer, and locked up the cabin before heading for the hospital with the papers in hand. He shot Kyle a text before taking Felicity out of her car seat.

Michael found it weirdly easy to slip into a life where he had someone to care for. Sure, it helped when he was able to catch a break here and there and his friends had been great at assisting, but he enjoyed doing most of the work. It was cathartic in a way. All the bullshit in his life was worth it if it meant he found her before someone else, someone dangerous, did.

“I need you to do me a favor and I need you to not tell Alex,” Michael said the moment he walked into Liz’ redone lab. Kyle was already there waiting for him. A look of annoyance crossed his face at his words.

“What are you trying to keep from Alex?”

“I’m literally not going to tell you anything until you promise me you won’t tell Alex,” Michael said simply. Pitlochry was all he could think about. He needed to get there, figure out what was calling him back. As much as he didn’t want to go with Kyle, he was also his best bet next to Alex. Alex, who had made it very clear he didn’t want to go back there.

Besides he had seen Michael breakdown before they went the first time and he had seen how he had been effected when they actually went. He didn’t have to be a genius to know that, even if he tried to bring it up to Alex, he would not be a fan of the idea.

Kyle eyed him for a minute before reaching for Felicity. She went to him easily and Michael wondered if that was her silent way to get him to comply. The only human she ever willingly went to was Alex. Yet, today, she curled up against Kyle with her fist wrapped around his thumb. She was staring right at Michael.

“Okay, fine, what?” Kyle sighed. Michael grinned.

“I need you to go back to Pitlochry with me.”

_”What?”_

“I’m, like, 99% sure we forgot something by the pod. Like, I think we were distracted by her and distracted by whatever it was doing to me to check out the area, so we need to go back and check it out,” he explained. When Kyle didn’t look too convinced, Michael continued. “I’ve been getting these dreams since we went and they’re just getting more intense. I need to go and see if that’ll make them go away. And maybe it’ll explain something about why she was there. You know I wouldn’t be coming to you if it wasn’t seriously fucking with me. And, fuck, you were there, you know I can’t go by myself.”

Kyle sighed slowly and looked down at the baby in his arms. The tail of his lab coat slowly started lifting, fluttering in the wind that wasn’t there. She smiled. He caved.

“Just, why are keeping it from Alex? Wouldn’t he be helpful?” Kyle asked, trying to hide his amusement at her mentally playing with his coat. She was good. Michael would have to bring her around when he was trying to convince other people of things too.

“Yeah, but he doesn’t want to go back there. And I get it, I do, but I don’t want to worry him. It’d be easier to just go ourselves. If we don’t find anything, then there’s no stress on his part. If we do… then I’ll tell him, but that’s afterward and he won’t have anything to worry about,” Michael promised. He knew he’d really have to play his cards right considering Alex was too smart for his own good, but it was worth it.

“Fine, fine, you got a point. The guy doesn’t need more shit than he’s got. What day did you want to go?” Kyle asked, carefully eyeing the empty beaker that slowly but surely started to push its way towards the edge of the table.

“What day do you have off?” Michael wondered. He grabbed the beaker.

“Thursday’s the only day I’m not on call until the weekend.”

“Perfect, Isobel’s already watching her that day. I’ll just tell Alex that I have to work late and we can leave early,” he explained. Kyle’s eyes skirted across the room as he nodded.

“It’s a date.”

-

Alex’s leg throbbed as he climbed out of his car in Isobel’s driveway. It had been a long ass day at the base and while he technically could take as many breaks as he needed, he didn’t like to take them. It was bad enough when he relied on his crutch, the last thing he wanted was to have someone ask if he needed help. They didn’t seem to understand that if he was struggling that bad, he would’ve just gone home. Now that he was off, though, he was limping just a little and he was more than ready to get home.

“I’m about to lose it, I swear,” Isobel said the moment she opened the door. Alex grinned and stepped inside.

Isobel’s entire living room looked straight out of a movie. Every object had floated off the shelves and was circling the room. Felicity was levitating somewhere in the middle of it, smiling widely and kicking her feet in celebration of her little magic act.

“Does she do this all the time? How do you deal with it? How do you make her _stop_? I can barely even get to her without bumping into a million things!” Isobel complained, groaning. She looked a little more disheveled than usual which probably had everything to do with this being the first time she watched Felicity alone.

“I mean, kinda. Never this much, though,” Alex acknowledged, slowly plucking things out of the air and putting them back where they belonged. Isobel started following his lead.

“Yeah, well, it started out with just a picture of me and Max and I told her to put it down because I didn’t want her to break it, but then she just did it to something else. It was like every time I told her to stop, it got worse,” she grumbled. Alex could picture the proud little smile on Michael’s face. He would’ve thought it was as funny as Felicity clearly did.

“Yeah, no, she was doing that specifically to piss you off. You kind of just have to catch stuff and put it back and she’ll usually leave it alone.”

“Alex, she is going to be the actual worst when she gets older, you know that, right?”

Alex snorted, heading for Felicity this time. “Oh, I’ve already told Michael that as soon as she’s able to completely comprehend, that we’re going to start teaching her what she can and can’t do and control.”

“Seems like she has a ton of control already.”

“Not really. Micahel helps level her out a lot, but sometimes when it’s just the two of us, she’ll throw shit when she’s crying or something,” Alex admitted, bringing her to sit against his hip. “Sorry, she was a lot, though.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. We were good for most of the day. Also, like, do you know where Michael is?” she asked. Alex blinked a couple of times before he raised an eyebrow.

“Work. Where else would he be?”

“Okay, well, hate to break it to you, but he’s not at work,” Isobel scoffed, collapsing into her couch. Alex stared at her hesitantly for a moment before following her. What the fuck did she mean he wasn’t at work? “He has never not answered me before. I even tried to call him, like, mentally and he straight up ignored me. He must be doing something super fucking serious if he won’t answer me. He’s literally stopped having sex to answer me before.” That was true, he was there.

“I mean… he told me he was at work. I don’t see what he has to lie about,” Alex said. The look on her face was anything but comforting. He shifted in his seat.

“I mean, maybe he is. I just… You know what, I’m sure he’s at work. Don’t mind me,” Isobel said with an empty laugh, waving it off. Alex sat there and mulled over what she had just said.

By the time he did leave, he had already decided he wouldn’t be going straight home. Michael was at work. He had to be at work. So, Alex picked up some late lunch/early dinner for them and headed towards the junkyard. When he got there, Michael’s truck wasn’t in sight. He even asked Sanders only to be told he had called in.

Alex’s first thought was that something bad had happened. He tried not to let himself get too nervous but still took it upon himself to drive around town to see if he spotted him anywhere. He wasn’t at the hospital, the Crashdown, the Wild Pony, Max’s, or anywhere else it seemed. As a last-ditch effort, he went to Kyle’s.

He didn’t know what to make of it when he found his boyfriend’s truck in another man’s driveway after having lied about going to work. It reminded him of earlier in the week when Michael had been pretty insistent on meeting Kyle himself. Alex tried really hard to keep his thoughts positive. Maybe there was an explanation. None of them would be good enough to explain him fucking lying, but maybe it existed. He would just go home and wait.

“I’m gonna kill him,” he said through a smile as he looked at Felicity through the rearview mirror. She smiled at his tone.

At least someone found this amusing.

-

“Guerin!”

Michael wasn’t sure how long Kyle had been screaming at him, but he knew it was at least a good while before he noticed. Assumption had proved right and something had overcome him, leading him to ignore Kyle in favor of heading down into the tunnels. Only this time it was past the pod.

“Guerin, I can’t see shit!”

Michael didn’t answer. Couldn’t answer.

Then his feet stopped moving. Michael’s eyes slid closed without much of a warning from his brain, staying shut tight. His hand moved out in front of him, concentrating on… something.

“Guerin. _Guerin_. Oh my‒Guerin, _what the fuck_?!”

That something slammed into Michael’s hand with a force that rivaled his own, throwing him to the ground and leaving him out of breath. His eyes still wouldn’t open, instinct moving to cradle the whatever to his chest. What little part of his brain that was in his control told him it was some type of stone.

“Guerin, are you okay? Hey, talk to me, talk to me,” Kyle urged. Michael could vaguely feel hands on him, but they felt like they were touching him over 5 different layers of clothes. He knew it was skin to skin, but, god, it didn’t feel like it.

Then he was being dragged.

He didn’t really catch anything in between that. All he knew was that eventually, somehow, he started regaining clarity. His eyes opened to see Kyle leaning over him in some form of light, huffing and puffing as he pressed two fingers beneath Michael’s chin. He blinked a couple of times.

“Hey, are you okay? Are you with me?” he asked. Michael groaned halfheartedly. He was exhausted. “Michael, I just spent 30 fucking minutes dragging you through a dark tunnel and then up a flight of creepy-ass stairs, you can at least talk to me if you’re with me. Seriously, if you’re hurt, Alex is going to kill me.”

“What happened?” he asked groggily, trying to lift his head only to find that to be too much work. Kyle got in his face, holding open his eyes to check his pupils or something. Michael did his best to swat him off but found that his hands didn’t actually move.

“Well, we got here and it was fine, then you stopped talking midsentence. Then you were like fucking speed walking down the steps and through the tunnel. And you said we were gonna look at the pod, so I stopped around there, but you just kept fucking going. Kinda lost you for a minute until you turned into the human torch,” Kyle explained, still checking over him to make sure he was okay.

“Huh?”

“Yeah, dude, you lit up. I guess it was just your hand or something, I don’t know, but it was bright. Then this tablet thing came, like, flying towards you and you hit your head pretty hard when you hit the ground.”

“Tablet thing?”

“Yeah, this thing,” Kyle said and patted his arm. Michael used all his energy to look down to see his arms had a death grip on some stone slab. He furrowed his eyebrows before letting his head fall again. Kyle’s hand stopped it from hitting the ground again. “I swear to God, you want to give yourself a concussion.”

“Mmm, what’s on it?” he asked. Kyle sighed.

“I don’t know, dude, I can’t see it. Look, can we leave? I want to get out of here. Besides, we have about two hours to get you back before Alex starts wondering and it’s a three-hour drive.”

Michael did his best to help Kyle carry his body weight, but he felt like nothing more than a sack of bones. Everything ached and his legs seemed to weigh a ton each, dragging on the floor even when Kyle was supporting him for the most part.

“Thanks,” Michael said once they exited the prison. It felt like a weight was lifting off of him already. His mind felt a little clearer.

“Yeah, well, I’m only doing this because Alex would probably be sad if I left you to get mind warped,” Kyle grumbled. Michael managed a smile as he got dumped into the passenger seat of Kyle’s car.

“Yeah. That’s why.”

It took him no time at all to go straight to sleep.

-

Michael still felt heavy with fatigue as he climbed out of his truck and trudged towards the cabin. He was more than ready to just curl up against Alex and sleep for a million hours before trying to figure out what the tablet was for. It had only a few inscriptions on it, none of which he couldn’t read, but they didn’t seem to be too different from the ones on the console glass. So, clearly, it was something he was meant to find. He still needed Kyle to tell him exactly what happened because he was still fuzzy on the whole thing, but that could wait. Even if he was super intrigued to know how his hand lit up.

He entered the cabin with a yawn, fully expecting Alex to be sweetly curled up on the couch in his comfy pajamas. Except, tonight, Alex was sitting in the kitchen, staring at nothing and still in his uniform. Okay.

“I’m home.”

Alex looked up with a level of stoicism that made Michael feel nauseous. Man, he could not catch a break today. Alex tilted his head.

“How was work?”

Michael slowly sat across from him. “Fine.”

“Yeah, I bet. ‘Cause I went to bring you food and you weren’t there.” Uh oh. “And so I was really fucking worried and searched the town for you because I thought something happened, but then I found your truck at Kyle’s. You hate Kyle. I can’t think of a goddamn reason why you would be with Kyle and then neither of bother to answer your phones. Can you explain that to me?”

He was not rested enough for this.

“Look, just tell me. Are you sleeping with Kyle?” Alex asked, resignation in his voice. Michael’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

“Oh, oh my _god_ , ew, no, what? Alex, _what_? No! Why would you even think that?” Michael sputtered out, a new level of disgust at the idea. Valenti wasn’t as bad as he thought, but he definitely wasn’t about to sleep with him. Much less cheat on Alex. Fuck all of that.

“Because you lied to me and I thought we were done with lying. I thought we were being honest and talking things through and trusting,” Alex explained. Michael could see that he was hurt and that was a lot worse than the aching feeling in his head or how tired his body was.

Still, he sighed and bowed his head. “Okay, I’m sorry I lied. I just… I knew you didn’t want me going back to Pitlochry.” This time it was Alex’s turn to look incredulous.

“I’m sorry, what? You went back to Pitlochry? For what?”

Michael reached in his bag and shuffled around before he brought the tablet to the table. It looked bleak and plain, but Michael knew better than that. Something about it was special and it was calling to him. He could _feel_ it.

“I know you said you got everything, but I couldn’t shake the feeling there was something there. And, yeah, it fucked with my head again, but that’s why I brought Kyle. I should’ve told you, I just didn’t want you to worry. But I guess I should’ve figured out that you would’ve pieced something together,” he admitted. Alex let out a breath of relief, leaning back in the chair and he brought the tablet with him. Michael watched his fingertips glide over it, his eyebrows furrowed as he took in the admission. “I’m sorry.”

“You should be. What happened?” he asked. Micahel huffed a dry laugh, shrugging his shoulders.

“Couldn’t really tell you. Something got in my head to find this thing and then I hit my head and it was like that plus something in my mind and I kinda shut down for a bit. Kyle tried to explain it to me, but I wasn’t exactly coherent, so we’re just gonna have to talk to him tomorrow. And, don’t worry, he checked to make sure I didn’t have a concussion, like, eight times, I’m fine. Well, I’m fucking exhausted and am like two minutes away from passing out, but I’m fine,” Michael assured. Alex nodded slowly, concern still on his face as he stared. Michael could tell he had a million questions, but, in true Alex fashion, he chose to ask no more. “I can’t believe you thought I was sleeping with Kyle.”  
  
“I didn’t really, I just couldn’t fucking think of anything else. This… makes more sense and I am pissed at you for not telling me, but it’s better than you being dead or fucking Kyle, so I’ll be mad at you when you’re less tired. We’ll work on the tablet and what happened at Pitlochry tomorrow,” Alex said. Michael nodded and slowly let his head hit the table.

Except that really fucking hurt, so he picked it back up.

“Do you wanna go take a bath? I’m sore, you’re sore, and I was still worried about you for the last five hours, so I’d like to cuddle with you if that’s okay,” Alex said softly. Michael grinned sleepily. If a healthy relationship meant discussing your issues calmly and ending it with cuddles, he kind of regretted not trying this out before.

“You really wanna sit a pool full of my filth? Kyle dragged me across the floor,” he pointed out. Another wave of concern hit Alex’s face, discarding the tablet to reach across the table and grab Michael’s had. Michael stared at the tablet for a few seconds before forcing his eyes on Alex.

“Fine, we’ll wash off in the shower first,” Alex said, “How’s that sound?”

Michael brought Alex’s hand to his lips and gave the tablet one last glance for the night before he stood up. It could wait. Alex deserved his attention much, much more. It would have to wait.

“Sounds like the best thing I’ve heard all day.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Experiments and war dads.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took forever anyway I'm gonna be late for work because I really wanted to get this up

“How long’s he been like that?”

 

“Four days.”

 

Kyle’s scoff echoed through Alex’s already worried mind. The worry had started almost immediately when Michael had cut a bath together short to stare at a stone slab. It only grew when he didn’t come to bed that night or any other night or when he refused to eat more than an orange a day. All he did was sit out on the back porch and stare at the stupid fucking thing. Alex wanted to break it.

 

“It’s like he thinks he can translate it through sheer power of will,” Alex commented, shaking his head as he sipped his coffee, “And that’s all he’s doing. He’s basically not even here, you can’t even talk to him. It’s that same trance shit like at the prison. I get that thing is important to him, but it’s like I don’t know whether I should be annoyed or worried. He’s not even helping take care of Felicity, he’s just a shell.”

 

As if on cue, Felicity started wailing. Alex sighed and went to where she was on the couch, picking her up and doing his best to console her. He didn’t mind taking care of her. Over the last few weeks, he’d found he sort of liked playing dad. However, he liked _sharing_ those duties. Michael was mentally MIA and didn’t even react to her crying for him. That’s really what solidified him firmly in the worry category. He’d gone from being overly attentive to nothing at all.

 

“Jesus, you think it’s whatever’s on that stone, not the prison and not her?” Kyle wondered, concern lacing his tone. Alex shushed the baby in his arms, bouncing her slightly.

 

“I guess. I just don’t know what to do.” Alex wondered, mindlessly rubbing his eye as he went to the kitchen to fix her a bottle. Kyle followed. “C’mon, Fiz, quiet down.” She didn’t. 

 

“Do you think we should get Max and Isobel over here? See if they can break him out of it?” Kyle suggested, taking over to scoop formula into the bottle. Alex nodded his thanks, trying to cuddle Felicity closer in hopes that his warmth could somehow replicate the comfort she got from Michael’s.

 

“What if it puts them in the same state he’s in? Then I’ll have three aliens just glued to my porch.” That would be worse than the current situation and it was already pretty bad. He hated this. He was beginning to think the universe didn’t want him and Michael together. It literally went as far as to have a stone tablet with mind control powers take him away.

 

“Well, look, if we don’t get him out of it soon, he’s gonna get hurt. I don’t know how long an alien can go without food or water, but I’m feeling like four days is a good place to not push past,” Kyle said, handing over the bottle. Alex relaxed the moment she stopped crying. “We need to try to pry him out of it.”

 

“We need to get him away from that thing is what we need to do.”

 

“Yeah, I don’t know if that’s gonna work. He’s been dreaming about it for weeks,” Kyle scoffed and brought his mug to his lips as if he hadn’t just given Alex some new information. Alex furrowed his eyebrows at him and then over towards Michael before looking back at Kyle.

 

“What are you talking about?” 

 

Kyle furrowed his eyebrows. However, as Alex stared with pursed lips, he seemed to understand. 

 

“Shit, he never told you?” Alex let out a slow breath. “I mean, he said he was scared to tell you, but I thought he would at least tell you when we got back.”

 

“Yeah, no, he said he was having these dreams that were fucking him up about wanting to go back to the prison. He said it was keeping him from sleeping. I don’t know all the details, I just know it was mental,” Kyle explained, rubbing his eyes.

 

Alex stood still for a moment as he went over everything in his mind. Everything was going to shit. He thought he’d finally got Michael back, but, instead, all this alien bullshit was working against him. _Michael_ was working against him. He wished he’d never brought him to that fucking prison in the first place. He should’ve learned his lesson from Caulfield.

 

When Alex looked down at the baby in his arms, he couldn’t help but feel bad. She was the tie to everything. Maybe she hadn’t actually done anything, but she’d played a massive role in the last few weeks. Which was insane and he knew it. Alex _liked_ being a father and he _liked_ taking care of a baby with Michael. At the end of the day, though, he found it hard to separate her from the bullshit. He wanted stability from Michael and this wasn’t it.

 

He was just going to have to make it happen.

 

“Can you hold her for a minute?” Alex asked, not waiting for an answer as he passed Felicity to Kyle. She immediately started whining, but Alex just turned and headed for Michael. One more try and then he would be taking some drastic measures.

 

Michael was silent, his skin windburned and his eyes glazed over. His hair was dirty and flat and his hands were shaking as he held onto the stone. It was a really windy morning and Alex knew it was supposed to storm later.

 

“Michael,” Alex said softly. He didn’t even look towards him. He went up behind him, draping his arms over his shoulders and resting his cheek against Michael’s. It was cold to the touch. “Baby, come inside. Come eat and bathe and sleep.”

 

Michael didn’t budge, didn’t even blink.

 

“We can…” Alex started again, his hands sliding over Michael’s chest and placing a few kisses along his jaw, “Do whatever you like. Anything to take your mind off anything.” 

 

Again, nothing. Alex clenched his jaw as he gave Michael a bit of a squeeze. When he again didn’t even seem to be aware, Alex grabbed the stone from his hands and threw it as hard as he could before Michael could even react. It landed somewhere in the woods behind the house and Alex made a mental note to hide it even further.

 

That woke him up.

 

“A-Alex?” he whispered, blinking as he slowly woke up, “Alex?”

 

Michael looked around, seeming to be confused about where he was and what he was doing. Alex touched his cheek again, pulling him to meet his eyes. He relaxed into it as the fatigue visibly settled in him. Alex felt at least a little bit relieved.

 

“Alex,” Michael breathed.

 

“Welcome back,” Alex said, “Come inside.”

 

“Where’s the tablet?” he asked immediately. And there went the relief.

 

“Forget about it, come inside. Come take a bath and eat and come to bed with me,” Alex urged softly. He wanted so badly to bury that thing and never see it again. But Michael shrugged him off, standing shakily to his feet.

 

“N-no, I need it. I need it.”

 

“No, you don’t.”

 

“Yes, I do!”

 

“I don’t want that shit in my house!” 

 

“That is my one way to find answers! You don’t want me to have answers?!”

 

“Not if it makes you like this, no!” 

 

Michael narrowed his eyes at Alex, breathing angrily as if he wasn’t shaking and pale and thin. It hurt to look at. He took a risky step forward and placed his hands on Michael’s cheeks.

 

“Please. You’ve been gone for days. I want my boyfriend back,” Alex pleaded. Michael thankfully softened. “Come inside. Please.”

 

“I need to know, Alex, I need to know what that is. What it’s for.”

 

They were silent for a moment, a debate that didn’t need words. Just staring. This wasn’t something Alex could think of a compromise for. He was tired of the mind control, he refused to have it willingly in his house anymore. Or, at least, not around Michael. He wasn’t willing to budge on that.

 

Alex let go of him.

 

“Then go,” he said simply even it was _not_ simple to say, “I threw it. Go find it, get your shit, and go somewhere else. I’ll take care of Felicity because you can’t when you have that thing and whenever you find what you wanted, maybe I’ll let you back in. But I’m not going to sit and watch you willingly be mind-controlled.” 

 

Michael’s eyes searched over his face, his eyebrows pulled together as he tried to gauge how serious he was. When he realized that Alex was indeed serious, he shook his head and moved closer.

 

“You don’t want that.”

 

“No, I don’t, but I’m not enabling you. So if you want that tablet more than me and Felicity and being _in control of yourself_ , then go for it. I’m not going to stop you,” Alex responded. He could see the turmoil on Michael’s face and that _killed_ him.

 

“Not to butt in,” Kyle’s voice was heard softly, “But I think I might be able to help.” Alex and Michael turned to face Kyle. Felicity was in his arms, whining and reaching for Michael desperately.

 

“How?” 

 

“Alex, you remember how we were able to decipher some of the writing my dad did?” Kyle asked, hesitantly checking to see if it was okay to give Felicity to Michael. He seemed okay _enough_ , so Alex gave a small nod. She immediately curled against Michael and he cradled her close like it brought him just as much comfort as it brought her. Alex would find it irresistibly adorable if he wasn’t so fucking angry that Michael chose mind control over them.

 

“Yeah,” Alex said, tearing his eyes away from the first _right_ thing he’d seen in days, “But I’ve looked at it, there are only four symbols on it. What could we get from translating it?”

 

“It might be instructions or something,” Kyle suggested, “Let me at least see before you guys have some massive break up. Just… place nice for a couple more days, okay?” 

 

Alex stared at Kyle for a moment. He looked less like a doctor and more like a kid determined not to let his parents break up. He sighed softly and looked towards Michael.

 

“Would you be okay if Kyle took it?” Alex asked cooly. Michael sat on the table behind him, his hand splayed across the entirety of Felicity’s back. She seemed to make the decision for him.

 

“If he takes it, can I stay?” Alex nodded without any hesitation. “Then okay, just be careful with it,” Michael said and Alex wondered if he was willfully ignoring the fact that Alex had hurled the fucking thing into the woods.

 

“Yeah, yeah, of course, just… don’t fucking break up over mind control,” Kyle said as if that was a normal sentence and then started heading towards the trees. Alex sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to relax. He didn’t think he would until this shit was out of his life for good.

 

“Michael, go inside and in our room so it doesn’t latch onto your mind again if it gets too close,” Alex ordered. They could talk _after_ he ate and slept.

 

Michael opened his mouth to protest but closed it once he looked back down at the baby on his chest. “Yeah, I can still feel it calling for me,” he murmured, slipping past him and heading inside. Finally.

 

Alex leaned against the table where Michael had been, feeling more than a little drained. He wanted to sleep, but he knew that wasn’t an option. He had to talk with Michael, watch Felicity, and get _something_ done other than bullshiting around. Maybe he could call Isobel an explain the events of the past few days and see if she had any advice. Although, that sounded like a bad idea when he realized how angry she would be if she found out her brother had been under a mind-controlling alien artifact for days and he hadn’t told her. 

 

Fuck, he just wanted to go back to normal. Not even by himself normal. He was completely happy with the normal he’d gotten used to with his alien boyfriend in his bed and his alien baby in the next room creating a mobile out of Jim Valenti’s trinkets. He didn’t know he could crave something like that but he did and he needed it.

 

“You know, when you stalked out here, I didn’t really know what you were going to do, but trying to dump him was not even close,” Kyle said when he walked back up to the porch. He was back to looking like an annoyed best friend and Alex would never admit how much he was thankful for it.

 

“What was I supposed to do? He was happily being controlled by a fucking rock. I don’t want that. I don’t want to watch him wither away because he’s controlled. If he wants to choose that over us, then fine,” Alex said. Kyle tilted his head, his face screaming _‘really, Alex?’._

 

“He doesn’t want that, you know he doesn’t. If you would’ve just gotten him away from that far enough where it stopped fucking with him, he would’ve told you that. He loves you, dude, he just wants answers. You can’t hate him for wanting answers,” Kyle said softly. Alex’s eyes were stuck on the stupid fucking rock in his hands and he was again overcome with the desire to break it. 

 

“I don’t, I literally just told him I don’t. I want him to have answers, but, fuck, I still want _him_. I don’t have him when he’s with that thing.” He immediately regretted as he spoke. He hated how vulnerable he was sounding, especially in front of Kyle Valenti of all people. He really just needed to sleep.

 

“Look, maybe it’ll stop once it gets what it wants from him. Maybe there’s a reason,” Kyle pushed. Alex shrugged halfheartedly. It seemed like Michael would’ve figured out what it wanted by now if it wanted something other than to take over his body. He didn’t see what other reason there could be right now.

 

“That’s a big fuckin’ maybe.”

 

“Listen, if we can’t figure it out in two weeks, then we destroy it‒with or without their approval. How does that sound?” Kyle asked. _That_ brought a smile to Alex’s face.

 

“Perfect.”

 

-

 

“Did you eat?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Bathe?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Felicity’s asleep, did you sleep?”

 

“No, I’ve been waiting for you.”

 

Alex kept his back to Michael as he rummaged through his drawers to get changed for the night. After Michael had gone inside, Alex took the opportunity of not dealing with a baby to go into his office and work on his actual job. That was five hours ago.

 

He could see Michael through the mirror. He was bundled up a thick sweater and sweatpants, curled up in bed with a pillow tucked in his arms. He looked small, tired. It reminded him of those times in the last month that had brought them closer, little moments of comfort that they’d shared. Alex weighed if he wanted this to be one of those moments or if he should walk away.

 

He turned to face him.

 

“I know you’re mad at me. I don’t want to sit here and say that it wasn’t my fault ‘cause at least a little bit of me wanted to sit and stare at it, I still want to now. But… if I had been in more control, then I wouldn’t have let it do that. You know I want you and Felicity, Alex, don’t you?” Michael said. He sounded so weak. Alex took a slow breath.

 

“I know. And I’m not… _mad_ , I guess. I’m frustrated. I hate that every time things are going good for us, something has to fuck it up. I mean, we finally get on the same page and get our shit together and, and then a fucking _mind-controlling_ rock tries to rip us apart. It makes it hard to… to…” Alex didn’t know what he wanted to say. 

 

“No, no, the universe only throws us shit we can handle. Us making it through bullshit after bullshit… We’re meant to be, baby,” Michael said, a sleepy little smile on his face. Alex huffed a laugh, shaking his head. “I’m serious though. It’s gonna be alright. We’re gonna be okay. We have to be. We’re Michael and Alex, we’re always okay.” 

 

“You sound so sure,” Alex said softly, pushing off the dresser and making his way towards the bed. Michael shrugged.

 

“I love you, Alex. Every inch of me wants every inch of you all the fucking time. I have you now and I will do my damnedest to keep you. We’ve been doing good. I’m sorry I almost fucked that up again,” he said, his voice getting softer the closer Alex got. He opened his arms, the pillow easily being replaced with Alex’s body.

 

“I want you to have answers, Michael,” Alex whispered as he rested his head in the crook of Michael’s neck. He had almost forgotten how comforting it was to be in Michael’s arms and it made it so much easier to understand how Felicity was brought so much comfort by it. “I just don’t want it to be at the cost of you.”

 

“I know. I’m sorry.”

 

“I’m sorry I almost kicked you out.”

 

“Fuck, _I’m_ sorry that it got to that point.”

 

“And I’m sorry Valenti of all people had to be the one to tell me I was being irrational.”

 

“I’m sorry I left you alone with the baby and work for days, I know how hard that can be.”

 

“I’m sorry we keep saying sorry.”

 

Michael let out a soft laugh, “Yeah.”

 

They fell silent for a moment, just taking each other in and relaxing until both of them began to drift. Alex had to catch himself, gently pulling himself drearily away from Michael so he could change and get out of his prosthetic. Michael protested gently but easily went back to cuddling the pillow on his side of the bed.

 

After Alex changed into his own sleep shorts, he checked the baby monitor once more. She seemed to be alright so he took off his prosthetic and turned out the lights. Slipping his arms around Michael from behind was natural, even after multiple nights in bed alone. He held him and the pillow he had in his arms tightly, pressing a kiss to the back of his shoulder before closing his eyes for the night.

 

It would be okay. They were Michael and Alex. It would always be okay.

 

-

 

“What the fuck are you saying?”

 

“I’m saying we need to get Max and Isobel over here immediately to see if my theory is correct because, if it is…”

 

“If it is?”

 

“Then we have might have a bigger problem than we originally thought.”

 

Alex sighed heavily, leaning back in his chair as he stared at Kyle. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days, eyes wide and panicked. Alex didn’t share his panic if only because he knew better. Panic got you nowhere.

 

“Okay, tell me again.”

 

Kyle huffed roughly, his hands pressing hard against the table as he leaned forward. He looked around the bunker once more as if he was scared someone was watching him. Alex was beginning to feel more concerned for him.

 

“Okay. So there’s four symbols on the tablet and I was only able to locate the translation for three of them. The first one I can’t find, but the last three basically say ‘Child of High General Heinar’. Well, I’m pretty sure it actually says _son_ instead of child, but the two symbols are really fucking close and so I’m being careful, so I think the first symbol is a name,” Kyle spewed and Alex nodded slowly, “So, so I went through all the records from Caulfield, specially searching for High General Heinar or, or just the name Heinar because obviously if I was able to find the translation, then they’d written it and hopefully even spoke about it before. Then I found the transcripts.

 

“Alex, there were only three aliens in all of Caulfield who spoke English. They were presumed to be linguists on their planet and they made transcripts of their torture sessions to see if they could get anything from them. We didn’t really read those the first time we went over them because we obviously weren’t gung-ho for torture porn, but _every_ _single one of them_ mentions him. It’s always ‘do whatever you want to me, General Heinar is coming for us’ or ‘General Heinar will destroy you’ or ‘our Heinar is ruthless when it comes to those who torture innocents, so prepare for total damnation of you and your offspring’, that type of shit. It-It was horrible and I don’t know whether to empathize or to be fuckin’ scared since _we’re_ their offspring that got threatened,” Kyle finally took a breath and Alex had leaned forward. While that didn’t exactly scare him, he was intrigued by the fact that Kyle had actually read the transcripts instead of passing them onto Alex.

 

“Okay,” Alex said, “That’s the second time you’ve said that and maybe I’m dense or maybe you’ve just watched too many of those sci-fi movies I suggested, but I’m not following with what your theory is.”

 

Kyle gulped and took a steadying breath, combing his fingers through his hair as he tried to order his thoughts. Alex waited as patiently as he could even though he was very eager to hear what Kyle thought was happening.

 

“So, how did a mind-controlling tablet that seems to be either for or dedicated to that ruthless General’s child end up in a secret tunnel not far from a secret pod in a completely different prison?” he said and Alex nodded slowly.

 

“So you think Felicity is his child and the sons of the people who tortured their people happen to be harboring her?” Kyle shook his head.

 

“At first that’s what I thought. I thought that the tablet must be, like, a warning or something and that’s why it latched onto Guerin because he’s the one taking care of her. But then I realized that you are too, you both are doing an equal job at it, so why wouldn’t it be controlling you too? So then I thought, well, maybe it’s just aliens that it affects. But it doesn’t do anything to Felicity, nothing at all. So it’s something about _Michael_ ,” Kyle pointed out. Alex suddenly started to feel the dread as he began to piece together what Kyle was trying to say.

 

“Are you saying Michael is the long lost son of a terrifyingly loyal and protective alien general?” Alex said slowly. Kyle nodded.

 

“Not only that, but my theory is that it’s connected. That, that maybe him finding the tablet alerted their planet that he was still alive. That maybe him being in a trance that whole time wasn’t because it was trying to communicate, but because it’s like a GPS tracking device. What if they can find his exact place when he’s holding it and they’re _coming back_ for him?” Kyle rambled. Alex’s eyebrows came together and he stared at the table. The idea was scary enough. What would happen if he was right? Would they come to take him back? Would Michael go willingly?

 

Would they kill Alex in the process?

 

“Wait, wait, it’s been over 70 years since the crash, General Heinar is probably extremely old if not dead,” Alex pointed out. Kyle shrugged.

 

“Or maybe they put him in a pod to freeze him in time until they found the whereabouts of his son so he could come back just as strong,” Kyle said. 

 

Oh. Well. Fuck.

 

“Which is why I need to get Isobel and Max to touch it. If they get sucked in, then maybe my theory is wrong and we can address it a different way. All I know is that was the first thing that came to my mind and now I’m freaking out,” Kyle breathed out. Alex nodded in understanding.

 

Alex racked his brain for a moment for literally any other option. Obviously, there were a ton. It could be something else entirely. This just happened to be the scariest option. The thought that they basically were the cause for an upcoming alien invasion led by an angry, vengeful general who was looking for his son whom Alex happened to be with was… A lot.

 

So they should probably figure that out as soon as possible.

 

“Right. I’ll call Isobel and Max.”

 

-

 

“You think my dad is coming for me? You think I have a dad?” 

 

Alex gave Michael the most comforting smile he could manage as he pulled him to the couch.

 

“I don’t know yet. We’re gonna experiment before we try to rationalize anymore,” Alex explained. He had gotten the crew over before he had let Michael in on the ordeal because he didn’t want to give him too much time to get used to the idea if they were wrong. Yeah, Michael might have a dad that loves him so much he’d put himself in a pod to wait and then destroy a whole planet to find him. But maybe not.

 

“But, wait, wait, what are we doing? How are we experimenting?” Michael asked. Isobel and Max were already on the couch, looking extremely alert for whatever was about to be thrown at them. Liz was standing behind the couch and Kyle was standing on the other side of the room, the tablet wrapped up in a sheet and held close to his chest. Maria had thankfully agreed to babysit for the day.

 

“The only way we can move in the right direction in figuring out what that thing is for is seeing if Max and Isobel are affected by it as well. If they aren’t, then we know it’s specially for you, Michael, and that narrows down our reasons. Kind of,” Alex said. He was more than a little eager to see what would happen. 

 

Hopefully, nothing would and he could, in good conscience, destroy it and never think about it again.

 

“First things first, can you feel it now?” Kyle asked. Max and Isobel turned towards him.

 

“I mean, I can feel another presence if that’s what you’re asking,” Isobel said, nodding towards the bundle in his arms.

 

“Yeah, it’s like just making itself known,” Max said. They looked at Michael who has pretty much not torn his eyes from Kyle since they entered the same room.

 

“It’s calling me. I can feel it in my bones, under my skin, in my head. Like… Like the way I feel Felicity and Max and Isobel, just… stronger. Like when you guys call to me. It’s like that. It’s like that. It’s like that,” Michael said, that same spacey tone of voice coming back when he let himself focus on it. Alex clenched his jaw. Both of Michael’s siblings were staring at him like he’d fucking lost it.

 

“Okay, that’s not a good sign, Alex,” Kyle practically hissed. Alex shook him off.

 

“Next step is we need you to hold it, see if it gets stronger,” Alex said. Kyle looked at him hesitantly before unraveling it and handing it to Max first. He flipped the tablet around in his hands before looking to Liz and then back to Alex.

 

“It got stronger ‘cause it got closer, but that’s it,” he answered honestly. Then he passed it to Isobel. She flipped it around for a moment as well before she smirked with a silent idea.

 

They watched as she got settled in her position and closed his eyes, splaying her hand across it as she slowly began to focus. It was about a solid minute of silence before her face filled with something akin to fear and she threw it onto the table to get away. Michael quickly went to reach for it, but both Alex and Kyle dove to keep it away. They weren’t going through that bullshit again.

 

“What happened?” Alex asked sternly at the same time that Max and Liz asked it much softer. Isobel just looked more concerned than ever as she looked at Michael.

 

“It’s definitely calling him. It’s loud, it-it’s living. It has something in it, like… like information maybe,” Isobel tried. Alex looked down to it before looking up to her.

 

“Information?”

 

“Yeah, like… It felt like it was trying to tell me a million different things all at once in a language I can’t understand. Like it’s full of something, all happening at once and repeating itself, just holding a bunch of shit,” she tried to explain. Liz lit up as she looked up at Alex.

 

“A harddrive,” Alex said just as Liz said, “A biological USB.”

 

“Okay, cool. How do we get it off?” Kyle asked. The room grew silent, waiting for anyone to get an idea.

 

It took way longer than Alex wanted.

 

“What if I used my handprint? You said Michael’s mom did it to transfer information before, what if that’s how it works?” Max suggested and Alex could’ve kissed him. They should’ve thought of that. _Michael_ should’ve thought of that.

 

They passed the tablet back to Max and he did his weird alien handprint thing, only to come up with nothing. Isobel tried after him and, again, couldn’t seem to access anything, so she gave it back to Alex. The room sent hesitant eyes towards Michael as they debated if they should actually let him try or not. Yes, it was their last option, but what if it sucked him in and never gave him back? It had already gotten too close to that.

 

“My turn,” Michael said after a moment.

 

“Wait, let’s just‒”

 

“ _My turn._ ”

 

Within a second, it was telekinetically ripped from Alex’s grasp and into Michael’s. He tried to move forward to take it back so they wouldn’t risk it, but he couldn’t get close to him. Literally. A visible barrier formed around him as his hand lit up.

 

“Wait, no, we- we need to talk about this first!” Alex argued, trying to push against the barrier. Something felt wrong, very wrong. This felt like he wasn’t going to come back. “Michael! Stop!”

 

It didn’t seem to matter how desperate he begged, Michael pressed his hand to the tablet. And his eyes rolled back into his head. And his jaw dropped. And he was gasping for air. And Alex couldn’t even get close.

 

“Michael! No, no, no, just… just let me get him out! Help me get him out! Michael!” he yelled, panic overwhelming him as he watched helplessly. This was bad. This was so, so bad. “Michael, _please_.”

 

“Alex,” Kyle said softly, “Just give it a minute.”

 

“Just give it a minute?” Alex snapped, his body feeling like it was on fire, “He’s fucking suffocating or something! He needs me! I’m not losing him like this, I’m not!”

 

“ _Alex_ ,” Isobel interjected, firmer than Kyle had been, “Just wait.”

 

Alex looked around the room and, while they all looked concerned, they all seemed to be perfectly content in doing _nothing_. He had never felt so fucking helpless. He could feel his bottom lip quivering.

 

“So you won’t help?” he asked. They shook their heads because of course they did because they didn’t _get_ it. But what could he do?

 

So he stayed against the barrier, quietly petting it and trying to assure Michael that he was still here. Maybe if he knew that he was there, he would be okay. This would be okay. This wasn’t the end. This couldn’t be the end. This was bullshit. Stupid, alien bullshit.

 

They were Michael and Alex.

 

They were going to be okay.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael gets a history lesson.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took so long, I really don't have an excuse. Well, I work 7 days a week so that's technically an excuse, but I still find time to post shit all the time so it's not a REAL excuse  
> Anyways, hope you like it! One more chapter to go!

She was beautiful.

Michael had seen his mother only once before, but he would notice her anywhere. And, seeing her now, she was _beautiful_. She was standing beside a man who was fully clad in armor, his hair cropped short in tight curls. He looked like Michael: same nose, same jaw, yet much taller. That must be his father. In front of them was another couple, both of them regal in long robes and crowns.

“This is not something you can say no to, Mara,” the man in the crown said sternly towards his mother. Mara. What a pretty name.

“This is my child, I can say no to it if I so please!” she snapped right back, not seeming to care she was yelling at someone who was clearly royalty. His father put his hand on her back and gave her a look.

“Mara,” he said calmly, his voice low and comforting, “You know what you were agreeing to when you married me.”

“I married you before there was a war destroying our planet!” She stepped away from him. “I agreed to this when I thought it might turn out alright! But that was five years ago and now I’m saying _no_. My baby,” she said as she placed a hand on her stomach, glaring at them all, “My baby is just that. A baby. I understand you need a Keeper, I understand it’s tradition to use the General’s firstborn, but circumstances are different. Get an adult to dedicate their life protecting your child. Antar is chaos, I will _not_ sacrifice my child for yours.”

“Mara,” the woman in the crown‒she must be the queen‒said as she stepped forward, “We’ve discussed this.” 

“My Queen,” Mara said sharply, allowing her to link their hands together, “It was different before. This is my son we’re discussing, my child we’re putting in harm's way the moment he takes his first breath.”

“ _Our_ son,” the queen corrected. The men in the room seemed to instinctively turn their focus away and the women grew closer, foreheads touching and grasping each other by the elbows. They contrasted greatly: his mother was so pale and the queen was so dark. “And _our_ daughter. They will have us and they will have each other. He won’t completely take his status as Keeper until he’s much older. He will be alright, I swear to it.”

The women stared, eyes having a conversation no one outside of the two of them could understand. They grew closer and closer as their conversation settled. The Queen placed gentle fingers under his mother’s chin and they shared an openmouthed kiss. The men continued to keep their eyes away.

“Alright, Xel, alright.”

-

“I will see you again.”

“And I will see you.”

His mother and father were standing close, nose to nose. She was much more obviously pregnant now, a pretty purple silk dress draping over her and making it look classy. She always looked classy. A spaceship was behind them, large and encompassing. They were standing at the edge of the ramp.

“The nearest planet with oxygen in the atmosphere is in a different solar system. I don’t know how long it’ll take, I don’t know when I’ll see you again,” he said. His mother smiled.

“I know,” she said, “I’m the one who found it.” He rolled his eyes and gave out the first smile he’d ever shown.

“I remember, you navigated the entire path after being obsessed for weeks.”

“I was obsessed with finding a place for our son to grow up that wasn’t set on destroying him,” she corrected. He nodded with a sigh, lifting his head enough to kiss her head and then her lips. “I’ll miss you every day you’re gone.”

“And I’ll miss you.”

“Take care of our son,” he added softly, “My little Rath.” She placed a hand on his cheek, wiping away tears from his eyes.

“And you take care of our planet.”

When they parted ways, Mara stepped up the ramp and towards where Queen Xel was waiting for her. They shared sad little smiles and entered the ship further. Both were holding back tears of their own.

“Do you think they’ll survive with just the two of them?” Queen Xel asked, one hand going to her own stomach and the other going to hold Mara’s. 

“I know Heinar plans to stay with your King while we’re gone. I think it’ll be good for them,” Mara whispered to her, leading her to the only secluded room on the ship. Everyone else was sharing bunks for the time being. All until they could make it somewhere safe.

“Do you? I recall they either only plot how to destroy their enemies or fuck when they’re around each other,” Xel joked once she closed the door, bumping shoulders with the other woman. Mara wiped her cheeks of the last of her tears as she smiled over to Xel.

“Are we any better?” she asked. Xel moved closer, gently reaching out to grab her hips. Empty giggles filled the room at the fact that they could only get so close with their stomachs in the way. The room shook as the ship prepared to take off for a new world.

“Of course we are. We aren’t destroying anyone,” she said, sighing, “But I will miss them terribly for it.”

They met together in a kiss, Mara pushing Xel’s long, dark hair over her shoulder. The kiss grew deeper and they moved closer towards the large encompassing bed.

His mother’s hand slid the straps off the queen’s dress off her shoulders.

-

“What are you telling me?”

Mara had tears in her eyes and on her cheeks, standing close with a man who was dressed in all blue. The back of his shirt said ‘medic’ in a language Michael shouldn’t have been able to read. He looked sympathetic.

“The baby is alright, but our Queen… She’s lost too much blood,” he said softly.

“Well then give her mine.” Mara’s voice was more intense than it’d ever been.

“You aren’t a match and you know that,” he sighed. She shook her head, a sob breaking through the quiet hall. “I’m sorry. She doesn’t have much time left.”

“Why can’t we put her in a stasis pod?” she demanded. He made a face.

“Those are for the children.”

“We can make an exception for our Queen!” 

“Master…” 

“This isn’t how it was supposed to go,” Mara cried, “We were supposed to take care of them together, we were supposed to find our way back _home_ together. This is wrong.” She stood for a moment with the man just hovering, wondering what to do. Eventually, she looked back to him. “Take me to her.”

“Master, she’s‒”

“Take me to her! I will not have our Queen die alone.”

He folded quickly, leading her into the room where Queen Xel was laying on a table. Her normally deep bronze skin was dangerously pale and she was badly cleaned up of the blood. Mara ignored it all, leaning over the table and caressing her cheek. Her eyes dragged open slowly, using her last bits of strength to be with Mara.

“Where is she?” she asked. Mara smiled sadly, holding back tears with an unparalleled level of success.

“Till is in the other room, they’re cleaning her up,” she responded softly. Xel nodded, breathing slow and ragged. “I don’t know what to tell your King when I see him again.”

Xel smiled sleepily. “Tell him I love him.”

“I will, you know I will,” Mara insisted, grabbing her hand and pressing it to her lips, “Gods, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I was only going to survive this trip because I had you. Now I won’t have you or Heinar and… I’ll have two children.” She breathed in through her nose, trying to keep calm.

“Not forever. Heinar is the strongest man in the galaxy. He’ll make it safe again.”

Mara moved forward, pressing a kiss to Xel’s lips and then to her cheek. She nuzzled up close to her as her breathing slowed. 

“Promise me,” Xel said softly, “Promise me he’ll still be her Keeper.”

“Why, of all things, do you want to speak of‒”

“Mara, _promise_ me,” she said.  Mara sniffled, raising her head.

“I promise.”

-

“Are you sure this won’t hurt them?”

“They’ll barely even feel it.”

Mara hesitantly handed the medic the small baby in her arms. Rath was wrapped in a silk purple blanket that the medic promptly removed, laying him on the table where Till was. She was bigger than him, though not by too much. Beside the table that held them was a smaller table covered in syringes.

He ushered Mara out of the room.

One syringe is used to extract blood from little baby Rath’s arm, instantly causing him to cry. It was then mixed in with a solution that caused it to glow bright red. He repeated the same with Till into a different beaker with presumably the same solution. Everything was all nicely labeled in that same language.

With two crying children on the table, the medic turned around. He added a clear, thick liquid to each beaker of blood. It seemed to bring the blood to life, a very soft hum filling the room aside from the crying. He took a syringe labeled with Till's name and filled it with the living blood from Rath's body. Once it was injected into her, she stopped crying. The medic repeated the steps with the opposite blood and opposite child until it was silent.

The medic proceeded to take them into a different room to test them, poking and prodding until their powers became prevalent. He made sure they'd swapped, or, actually, shared whatever their original power was.

Till levitated along with Rath when they were shown toys, both being brought down with a gentle hand on their bellies. Rath and Till both were able to produce fire when jabbed too many times with a pencil, both being doused with a spray bottle.

The testing went on for a while until they stopped producing flames and stopping levitating literally everything they could. After that was finalized, they were brought back to Mara.

The medic explained that they would both be telekinetic and pyrokinetic, though the pyrokinetic part was a later-in-life gift in the royal lineage. They could take pills to activate it earlier, but it was best to wait until it either showed on its own or they were old enough to search for it. Mara looked more than a little overwhelmed.

It quickly switched to a different, darker room.

"And you're sure?" the medic asked.

"I have no choice," Mara said, teary-eyed and irritated with a baby strapped to her chest, "He's too young and I'm still navigator of this ship. This is what's best for them both." 

Til was placed inside of the pod.

-

"What does that mean?"

Mara smiled at the little boy beside her. He couldn't be older than 4, head full of curls that spiraled past his shoulders and eyes that looked entranced. They were both sitting criss-cross in front of the pod.

"It means your life is dedicated to her," Mara said softly, "You're here to protect her, but she's here to protect you too. You're linked in your mind and in your blood."

"Wow."

"I know."

"Well, why's she in there?" Rath asked, pointed to the baby floating in the colorful pod. Mara breathed slowly.

"Because the time isn't right. Once we find our new home, we'll take her out and we'll all work together to figure everything out, okay?" she said. Rath reached his hand out for his mother, eyes never leaving the pod.

"What if we don't land?" Her face dropped at the ominous tone he'd used. 

"Why do you say that, baby?"

He blinked, eyelashes stroking the curls that hung down and he didn't bother moving. Not right now, not when there was something far more distracting. 

"Forever's not real," he said instead. She stared at him for a moment before combing his hair away from his eyes.

"Well, if we never land, you'll know when to get to her. She'll call you when you need her most. You'll feel it in your mind," she said and kissed the top of his head. He leaned into her when she did. 

"Are you gonna be there?" 

"I hope so, baby, I hope so."

-

"It's okay, baby, it's okay." 

But it wasn't okay. If it was okay, Mara wouldn't be crying. There wouldn't be sirens. People wouldn't be flooding the room with other kids. 

"Stay!" Rath said, feeding off the panic in the room. He didn't seem to know what was happening, only that he should be scared like everyone else. 

"I'm going to be right here, you just need to go into the pod, okay? It's safer in there," she promised but there were tears in her eyes and she looked terrified. 

"I don't wanna!"

"Baby, you have to," she said, "They need me to help. You know Mama helps everybody know where to go and I can't do that when I'm worrying about you. So please just listen to me."

He clung to her, refusing. He wanted to stay with her. She peeled him off, grabbing the small backpack that was on her shoulder.

"If you can't find me when you come out, everything you need is in here, okay? It's going to be right outside your pod," she said softly. It only scared him more.

"You said you were staying!" 

"I am, baby, I am! This is just in case because I don't want you to be scared."

He was a crying mess, fighting her all the while she covered him in silver with shaky hands. She kissed his head one last time as she held him, letting him kick and scream at her.

"I love you so much. I'll see you before you know it. You'll blink and I'll be there. I swear to you. I love you," she insisted, repeating the three words over and over even as she pushed him into stasis against his will.

She stared at him for a moment, breathing slow and regulated as she calmed herself down. She eventually got that hardened look on her face, one that said business, and she pulled her hair back. 

"I'll see you before you know it, Rath."

Mara turned on her heel, walking swiftly with determination through waves of people until she entered the control room. A man in a captain's uniform turned to face her.

"Master, there's no stopping it. We're going to crash," he said, his face as stern as hers but his eyes weren't nearly as trained.

"I know," she said, "And when we do, if we survive, whoever approaches us, you tell them I'm captain." He looked shocked. 

"Why would I–"

"I'm the reason we entered this atmosphere, I will take the brunt of whatever comes," she said sternly, managing to stand still even as other crew members wobbled with the force of the ship. 

"But I'm in charge," he tried.

"I am the wife of the man saving your planet and I am the Keeper of your King, you will listen to me." Her voice didn't leave room for arguing.

They ship crashed the ground with a force that left several dead and multiple others injured. She instructed anyone who was able to move the children as best they could away from the site. She made sure she knew exactly where they put her son and made sure he wasn't alone.

When the people of Earth arrived, a man in structured clothing approached her after being told she was Captain. He had sharp features and a handsome smile. She didn't buy into it, not when they began rounding up her people around her like cattle. 

"Hello, Captain," he said in a language she hadn't studied since school.

She kept her chin high and her mouth sealed. 

"I'm General Manes. It's a pleasure to meet you."

-

Michael gasped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes it's supposed to end like that
> 
> also on my tumblr: spaceskam


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael explains and things make sense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah! it's over! Thank you to everyone for reading even when it, at some points, got completely off the rails or when I didn't update for months. I had a lot of fun writing this and I am SO GLAD to be done! I think I should stick to oneshots from now on lol Anywho, I hope you enjoy this last chapter because I got up early to finish it before work and that is something I rarely do
> 
> If you have any questions about anything after the fact, feel free to ask! I know there's a massive chance I didn't address something because I am a mess and I plan horribly!

Alex was in hell.

All he could do was sit and watch as Michael stayed frozen in his little barrier. The worst part was he literally couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not. He had stopped crying, but his worry and anxiety never wavered. He stayed put behind the barrier, prepared to catch him whenever it broke. Isobel had _somehow_ fallen asleep in the two hours doing nothing as they waited and it was irritating at the least, but he tried to ignore it. This was going to be okay.

When Michael eventually came to, it happened extremely fast. The barrier evaporated and Michael gasped to life, scrambling to his feet and grabbing for Alex like a lifeline. Alex grabbed him easily and let him ball up in his lap and breathe heavily against his neck. Kyle quickly got the tablet far away from him. Isobel woke up.

“I got you,” Alex whispered, shushing him and stroking his hair while Michael just dug his fingertips into his skin.

He stayed there for a while, long enough for everyone around them to start getting irritated that he wasn’t speaking. Alex didn’t really care. Maria had the baby for the night; he had no intention to let go. Even when Michael eventually cooled down enough to talk, he kept his head burrowed into Alex’s neck and his hands clutching his shirt.

“Okay,” Michael said, letting out a heavy breath, “Okay.”

Alex continued to rub his back as everyone got prepared to listen to whatever the hell just happened.

“Are you okay, though?” Alex asked. Michael nodded slowly, but continued to clutch onto him.

“What was that?” Max wondered. Michael sniffled and nuzzled into Alex.

“It, uh, like psychically showed me the past, I guess,” Michael answered, huffing a laugh. Alex squeezed his arm.

Michael then launched into a detailed story, ignoring all the questions they asked him until he was done. He told them a tale of his mother’s strength and how she reminded him of Alex. He explained that he and Felicity were basically scientifically bonded, though it seemed like it was more than that too, he just didn’t understand it enough. They just called him her Keeper. Then he said how his mother had pushed him in the pod and basically allowed herself to take the blame for literally everything, meaning there was a chance they interrogated her the most. Alex didn’t have the heart to tell him that he wasn’t wrong.

“Okay, but what about the tablet?” Liz prodded as soon as he was done. Michael shrugged.

“I think it was in the bag my mom gave me before she put me in the pod.”

“But what _is_ it? It didn’t give you like a history of its own structure, only your mom?” Isobel asked. Michael shrugged. Alex pressed a kiss to his head.

“It sounds like it was more of a transference of your mother’s psyche. She, like, psychically connected it to herself so she could teach you and then when she died, maybe it just got, like, desperate,” Alex suggested, “Because the first time you were near it, while it made you a little fuzzy, it didn’t latch onto you. The more it was sure it was _you_ , the more it stole your attention. I’m thinking it was just extremely desperate to tell you what it was. Now its job’s done.”

“Yeah, well, I’m still taking it away just in case,” Kyle said. Michael nodded.

“I’m still confused about something,” Max said, his eyebrows furrowed and looking genuinely troubled, “Was your mom, like, a prostitute or something?”

Alex put his hand on Michael’s cheek, keeping him pressed against his shoulder so he didn’t get defensive.

“No,” Michael said, surprisingly calm, “She was the King’s Keeper and married to the High General.”

“But… she was…”

“She was banging your aunt, get over it.”

Isobel and Liz smiled, patting his back as he seemed to continue to struggle understanding how that exactly worked. Alex just rolled his eyes and held Michael close. Michael nuzzled his nose under his chin, breathing him in slow.

“Are you okay, though?” Alex asked again, “You just got a lot of information.”

“Yeah, I did,” Michael nodded, “All I ever wanted was information and I just got it. And you know what the best part was?”

Alex relaxed a little. “What?”

“Nothing I saw told me I couldn’t be with you,” Michael said.

Alex closed his eyes in relief.

-

“Thanks, Maria.”

“No problem, we’re good friends.”

Unlike whenever they’d pick up Felicity from Isobel’s, they were able to walk into Maria’s apartment and nothing looked out of place. It all looked exactly how they left it.

“Sorry if she rearranged things,” Michael said, making a beeline for the baby that was on a thick pallet in the living room and surrounded by trinkets. He pulled Felicity into his arms and cuddled her close, something she seemed equally joyous about.

“Nope, we didn’t have that problem,” Maria said simply. Michael and Alex both looked at with furrowed eyebrows. If they left Felicity with Isobel for a couple of hours, she would wreck the house. They leave her overnight with a psychic and suddenly it’s not a problem.

“How?” Alex asked. She shrugged, smiling at the baby who was cuddled up to Michael but still gave her a little coo in response.

“Well, she tried, and I told her that it wasn’t fun,” Maria said, “So she stopped.” 

“She just… stopped?”

“Listen, children understand more than you give them credit for. I mean, she still levitated a few things, but it wasn’t completely out of control once I explained that I didn’t like it. Plus, I gave her some things to play with and she really seemed to take to them. It really evened out her control, I think,” she said, walking over to poke at Felicity’s cheeks and getting a shriek of laughter in response.

Michael looked around at the things she’d given her to play with and saw a few different items that he’d been previously threatened if he touched. Namely, a slightly disturbing mask, a small wooden boat, and a large bulky necklace that anyone had only ever seen Mimi DeLuca wear. Then, surrounding the pallet, was a deck of tarot cards.

“You gave our baby tarot cards?” Alex asked before he could and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t get chills. _Our_ baby.

“I had a few decks and she seemed drawn to that one,” Maria said simply, sitting on the couch, “I’m thinking she has a bright future in being a psychic.”

“Uh-huh,” Michael laughed.

They talked for a few more minutes before they both kissed the top of Maria’s head goodbye and she gave them all hugs, including Felicity. It felt so weirdly normal and just like a part of life. Felicity was no longer someone’s baby that they were confused about what they should do.

She was theirs and that was it.

-

Alex peeled back the sheets of the bed and climbed into his side. He watched Michael do the same, face fresh-shaven and chest bare. He looked good and he wasted no time in crossing the middle of the bed to give Alex a kiss goodnight. It was all paired with the soft rustle of the baby monitor and Alex’s heart was thudding in his chest. How domestic.

“So, have you thought about what exactly we’re going to tell people? Now that we are for sure going to keep her and raise her and that no one is going to come and kill us for it?” Alex asked. Michael huffed a laugh and settled into the pillow.

“I mean, I was hoping that, if you’re open to it, of course, we just raise her together and tell people we adopted. No one really needs to think more than that,” Michael suggested. Alex smiled easily.

“I want that,” Alex said. Michael smiled like the sun and kissed him once more, breathing slow and steady.

“Thank god, I need you to help raise her so I don’t ruin her,” he said. Alex laughed and kissed him once more, tucking his hair back. It was so easy. Everything felt okay. “We can just explain to her the actual situation when she’s older, like, fifteen or something.”

Alex nodded. “Yeah, I think that’s best.”

Michael took a heavy breath, grinning like a mad man. It was the best thing he’d ever seen.

“Okay, Daddy,” Michael said. Alex grimaced, laughed softly.

“Stop.”

Alex reached over to the nightstand and flicked the light switch he had installed beside his bed. The room engulfed in darkness and Michael cuddled up into his chest easily. It was beginning to feel so natural to just be with each other. Apparently, when they had other things to shove their worries onto, they didn’t have the worst time trying to be a couple. In fact, they worked well.

Michael’s job was inherently to take care of Felicity. She is in his blood, in his veins, and yet it gave them an excuse to get their shit together. Alex couldn’t even bring himself to feel excluded about anything‒he fit too perfectly to be jealous about the situation. They were a unit rather than pieces glued together. They were already more of a family than Alex had ever had growing up.

He didn’t want it any other way.

“I guess this is a good time to tell you I can apparently control fire.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also on my tumblr: spaceskam

**Author's Note:**

> also on my tumblr: spaceska


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